


The Far Side of the Moon

by kishidanchougoroshi



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Drama & Romance, M/M, Magic, Museums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-06-13 09:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15361200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kishidanchougoroshi/pseuds/kishidanchougoroshi
Summary: L’art de La Vie museum is the place where Jun worked. Something in his past had led him there, giving him some space to be alone and pitied himself. It had been two years with the same old routine and he thought that his peaceful life would go on as long as it could be. He didn’t know that he was placed there on purpose – for redemption…





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my old fic, I wrote it around three years ago. The story contains a little bit magical aspect and perhaps it's a little bit vague.

L’art de La Vie museum offers you the opportunity to join us as a registrar with the following requirements:  
· Keeps track of all museum objects   
· Maintains records of ownership and borrowing  
· Carefully watches the safety and condition of objects on display   
· Works with the curators and the graphic designers in assembling the museum catalog  
· Skills: organizational skills, good record keeper, careful with details 

You can be a registrar if you are good at keeping things in your desk and your room very neat and organized  
Jun read the job opportunity which was written on a weekly tabloid; he flipped the pages, there was nothing interesting enough to keep him on reading it. He closed the tabloid and looked through a window from the tenth floor of a building in the middle of the town; the morning sky was bright, the sun shone its warm light everywhere and it came through the thin curtains, blinding Jun’s sight. 

He looked down at the carpeted-floor, its pattern was complicated, but somehow it looked like a tropical forest for him, perhaps they imported it from the South East Asia. The owner of this particular hotel was someone from England, which was what he heard from one of the employees. 

He was the one who sent the job advertisement to a tabloid by his boss’ order. Jun had been working at the L’art de La Vie museum for more than two years. He enjoyed his work so far, dealing with paperwork and making sure that all of museum artifacts were on their places wasn’t that tiring. The payment was enough to afford a nice apartment downtown and to buy new clothes every month. He lived with a cat named Fox who he found on the streets, wounded badly, but now was a healthy fat cat. 

He got the job from the advertisement in a magazine; though he knew nothing about art and had no idea how to enjoy them. However, he found himself enjoying the work. He didn’t need to meet many people except the docent who was surprisingly idiotic with so many disasters happening when he was around. Disaster wasn’t the only one; he could cause miracles, in strange ways – he always called Jun with a nickname which Jun didn’t like at all. He couldn’t figure out why the director employed him here as the front face of the museum; what kind of impression he would leave to the visitors with that clumsy idiotic personality.

Unfortunately, Jun had to work with him in many occasions since their director who was probably the busiest and the most disciplined man on earth thought that they were a perfect pair to work on the same project. They were here to attend a meeting with some volunteers who were willing to donate their antiques to the museum. They were highly ranked officials who had a close relationship with the museum owner, which was why the place of the meeting was in a five starred hotel with an expensive lunch from the best chefs.

Jun shifted on his seat, feeling uneasy. He was bad at meeting with people, even though he didn’t need to talk with them; he was here to note and to record everything and reported it to their boss. 

He put down the magazine as a tall guy entered; Aiba Masaki – the museum docent – he looked weird on his super neat suit and a pair of black shiny shoes. Jun used to see him in his dull sneakers and old shirts; though they worked in a museum, it didn’t mean they had to dress properly all the time; the owner let them dress casually in order to attract younger generation to love art. Teenagers hatea formalities. 

“Matsujun, they are here, prepare yourself,” he said while smiling broadly. 

Jun rose off the seat, straightened his suit and fixed his already-perfect tie. He heard the elevator’s bell and footsteps, and a minute later, a group of old men along with their assistants entered the meeting hall. Aiba greeted them formally, Jun did the same thing. The tall guy gestured for them to sit down and without wasting any time, they started the meeting. Jun typed every word, making sure that he didn’t miss a thing. Magically, Aiba lead the meeting very well; as if he was somebody else. One of the men looked at Jun with a curious gaze, but soon he returned to his iPod and ignored Jun for the rest of the meeting. 

****   
“Thanks for your hard work,” Aiba tossed the coffee cup he was holding. They were sitting down face to face at the Starbucks near the hotel; Aiba had loosened his tie and took off his jacket, remaining only his white shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. 

“You too,” Jun sipped the hot coffee and looked around; the coffee shop was full of salary men, though lunch time already ended. 

“We’ll receive around 50 new antiques and paintings,” Aiba rubbed his hands to each other, looking excited.

“Mr. Director will be glad to hear it,” Jun said. 

“He will make a visit anytime soon,” Aiba took his almost empty glass and sipped it till the last drop. 

“He seems very busy,” Jun commented. 

“Surely is. He is in charge of all the galleries as well; this museum probably is a little bit unimportant compared with them all,” Aiba said, checking the document once again and wrote a little note. 

Jun didn’t know that much about the high-level management and he wasn’t that interested to find out. They were simply the untouched human beings and had nothing to do with his life; all that mattered to him was to note the museum’s properties, clean his working table, go home, take a shower, feed Fox, have simple dinner and go to bed.  
There was no need for him to check on how the director was doing. Or how the other gallery’s sale this month was. 

“I met him twice,” Aiba continued his unfinished talk. “He’s about the same age as me or maybe a little bit older. He graduated from a famous university and joined this company a year later.” 

“How did you know about him that much?” Jun asked. 

“My guests,” Aiba shrugged, “they kindly provide you that kind of information.” 

Jun nodded, imagining the director’s face. His picture hanged everywhere, in the lobby, corridors, cubicles, canteen and even on the way to the toilet. All of those pictures were complete with quotes in order to encourage the employees to work better. Oppositely, there were none of the owner’s photo; he remained mysterious and seemed to avoid people. Jun only knew the name and how many museums and galleries he owned, but he never found out about the man’s face or his profile. Unlike other CEOs who liked to talk in front of public; this man preferred staying behind the curtain and let someone like the director work for him, making sure everything was under control. 

“Why did you decide to work at the museum?” Aiba asked, all of a sudden. 

Jun had no idea on how to answer that question; he had some reasons, but he couldn’t say it, not to Aiba or anyone else.

“I love quite places,” Jun answered, avoided Aiba’s gaze and finished his own coffee. “Let’s go back now, I need to enter the data we’ve just gotten,” he rose, shouldering his bag and walked out before Aiba. 

“I’ll go home earlier,” Aiba muttered as they got in a taxi. “I have a date,” he continued. 

“Sounds fun,” Jun said. 

They didn’t talk for the rest of the way; Jun headed to his office straightly as they arrived at the museum. He saw the other docent explaining about a painting to an elderly who seemed deaf; she had to turn up the volume of her voice to make the grandfather hear her. Jun quietly stepped towards the office, a large room with many windows and plants.   
He slumped on his chair and turned on his computer. The room was also soundproof that he could listen to music all he wanted. He typed the password ‘colorlesst4z4ki’ which was taken from Haruki Murakami’s newest novel. Jun loved how Murakami described someone’s loneliness with the depth of words, and perhaps that was what he exactly felt. 

He had fewer friends with whom he hang out with on weekends, but he barely fit in their world, they always talked about something that Jun didn’t know or didn’t like and he simply kept quite all the time. But, as long as there was another human beside him, it could make him feel relieved, at least once a week. 

He took off his scarf, his bracelet, his watch, and adjusted his eyeglasses before starting to work. He only needed to enter a few data and he could go home. He hummed a song he had just listened to this morning; an old song by ‘The Carpenters ‘Close to you’.

These two years, perhaps were Jun’s most peaceful time; he had to deal with his past, his sorrow, his secrets and the lies he had told people. He loved working in this large room all alone while listening to music or reading books when the work wasn’t that hectic. Luckily, his room was free from the director’s face. 

He finished typing ten names and paused for a while; Aiba’s question disturbed him, the reason why he decided to work in a museum. Maybe not everyone had a reason to work in a particular place, some of them were trapped because they didn’t know where else to go, some of them might be believed that they were meant to be there and some were like Jun. 

He had a particular reason to work here; he felt that he had chosen the right path by working at L’art de La Vie, but he didn’t want to share it with anybody. He didn’t know where to start or where to end. He remembered the day he sent the application to the manager – a beautiful woman named Nakama Yukie, she held an interview with him in a national library; the most uncommon place to do so. 

Nakama asked him about basic things, his strength, weakness, hobbies, favorite movies, food, etc. She was the type who loved talking and exploring somebody’s personality, which was why she became a personnel manager. The first thing which crossed Jun’s mind was this woman was probably the owner’s hidden girlfriend; the way she dressed was beyond general women. Her dress was top branded and the perfume she sprayed must be so expensive. When she asked why he wanted to work at the museum, Jun mentioned the answer word by word just like what was written on the book ‘How to Face the Job Interview’ that he had read the night before. 

“Working in a museum is kind of boring, are you sure that you want to waste your time there? You’re still young, there are a lot of job opportunities out there which are better than our museum,” she said, placing her nail-polished fingers on a discovery book, pretending to read it. 

“I love art,” Jun lied. “I can feel the peace if the artistic things are all around me.” 

Nakama’s eyebrows rose; as if she knew that Jun was lying, but she said nothing in return. She told Jun to wait for the announcement in a week. Jun thought that Nakama wouldn’t accept him, but he got the phone call on Thursday morning, a week after the interview; just like what she said. She asked Jun to come to the museum on Monday morning. 

“Someone named Aiba Masaki will guide you; he will tell you everything about the museum,” she told him on the phone. 

Jun thanked her and waited for her to hang up. Afterwards, he searched about the museum on the Internet and found out that it was owned by someone young and rich. Beside museums, he had many galleries and art shops all over the country. Jun clicked on the profile in order to find a picture, but nothing appeared. He typed the name on Google; there was a brief explanation, but no more than that, no picture or further information about him. 

A knock on his door pulled him out from his daydreaming. 

“Can I come in?” 

“Sure.” 

Jun let his guest enter the room; Tabe Mikako, a young woman who had just finished her training months, her tutor was Aiba – she liked visiting Jun and talked about her problems – not that he was interested in them though. She had a crush on the director, not mentioning that she had just met him once, but she said that they were meant to be together one day – the most unreasonable talk Jun had ever heard. But in order to keep her good mood, Jun always listened to her, no matter how boring the topic would be.

“Did you hear that Mr. Director will pay a visit?” she asked, slumping down on the sofa while grabbing a cushion into her lap. 

“Sort of,” Jun briefly answered. 

“What outfit should I wear?” she hugged the cushion and looked at Jun, waiting for his response. 

Jun cleared his throat, carefully choosing his words, “What do you mean? Will he hold a party or something?” 

“Yes,” she beamed, “We will celebrate an opening of a new gallery here. The party is my biggest chance to attract his attention, don’t you think, Jun kun?” 

“I hope so,” Jun let out a sigh. Tabe-chan, as all of the other employees called her, was known to have good confidence. She could boost everyone’s mood, but sometimes she refused to stop talking. 

“What’s with that answer? Do you think that I’m not competent enough for the director?” she snapped.

Yes was probably the best answer, but Jun didn’t want to hurt her feelings. He shook his head weakly.

“You should learn to wear high-heels, men love that,” he said, smiling at her.

“High heels…” she muttered. “I will, thanks Jun kun.” She stuffed the cushion back on its place and rose. But before closing the door, she turned around and said, “I heard that the owner will come as well.” 

Jun flinched, he lifted his head to meet Tabe’s gaze, “Is that so,” he said after a while. 

“We’re dying to know how he looks like,” she winked and closed the door behind her. 

Jun looked at the computer screen; it was somehow brighter than before, he rearranged his thoughts and resumed his work. He saved the document and made a back up on his email; then stored the pen and pencil to their case, made sure everything was clean and organized before leaving. 

He walked down the street, thrusting his hands into the coat’s pockets. He came by a pet shop and bought some cat food. There were more people inside than usual; most of them were middle-aged women. Jun paid for the food and left the shop; it was still too early for dinner and he didn’t feel like cooking something tonight, maybe a cup of ramen would be enough. He stepped to a convenient store and bought two cans of beer, a cup noodle and a shaving knife.   
Jun was about to open the door when a man entered at the same time; he accidentally bumped into Jun’s shoulder, Jun’s shoulder, the plastic bag he was holding fell down, one of the beer cans rolled down on the floor. The man quickly rose and took it; his face was half-hidden by a baseball cap, he wore a thick-framed eyeglasses and Jun saw something which made his blood ripple unpleasantly. The man’s left eye was clouded with grey color, signaling that it was blind. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, handing Jun the can. “Are you alright?” 

“I’m okay, thanks,” Jun took the can, feeling guilty for looking at the man with an intense gaze. He rose off of the floor and took the plastic bag; the man was still locking his gaze at him. 

He walked out and stepped further from the store as quickly as he could. That man scared him out of nothing; that clouded left-eye seemed to see through him and he didn’t like it. 

“I’m home,” he said as he arrived at his apartment. Fox, the cat, welcomed him with a soft meow and followed him to the kitchen. “Are you hungry?” he squatted and gave a small pat on Fox’s head. He fed the cat and boiled some water for himself. The only one sound was the cat chewing its food. Jun washed his hand, stepped to his room and changed his clothes. 

He checked his phone; his sister sent him a message, asking how he was. Jun replied shortly and returned to the kitchen; Fox had finished his food and now got ready to sleep on the spot near the window. Jun poured himself a cup of coffee and lied down on the sofa, reading the unfinished novel while listening to the music from his phone.   
He fell asleep in no time. A dream sneaked into his sleep, it had been a while since he saw one. He was in a classroom – his high school classroom and he wasn’t alone; somebody was sitting next to him.

“Jun, I’ve been waiting.”   
“Toma, we’re supposed to attend Biology class,” Jun said, glancing at his watch.   
“Skip it for today. Come with me.”   
“Where to?”   
Toma gripped his wrist and led him into a basement; but it wasn’t a usual one, thousands of paintings decorated the place.   
“What is this place?”  
“It’s my storage room,” he said.   
“You can’t do that in the school basement, the teacher will expel you if they find out.” 

But Toma wasn’t there anymore, Jun was completely alone, he called on Toma’s name over and over but the guy didn’t come back. The room turned dark, all of the paintings gone, replaced by a high wall and a small door formed on it. Jun ran there, extending his hand to open it, but before he could do that, he woke when Fox climbed to his stomach. He was soaked in cold sweat; his heart beat rapidly as if he was running for real. 

He glanced at the clock; it was nearly ten at night. He rose off of the sofa, took a quick shower and changed to fresh pajamas. He tried to grasp the meaning behind the dream he had just seen; but the more he tried to remember the details; the more he forgot it. Nevertheless, Toma’s face was so clear, he clenched his teeth as he remembered the man; he bit his lower lip, trying hard to control his emotion. Remembering Toma hurt too much, he had buried the memories at the back of his brain, locking it to prevent it from appearing to the surface. However, he couldn’t do that forever. 

Jun crouched under his blanket; sleep wouldn’t come to him again, so he spent the night by watching the old movies that he had watched several times. 

***   
Aiba was waiting at his room when Jun got there the next day. His happy smile decorated his lips; he was holding his notebook and a pencil. 

“We’ll go to the supermarket today,” he said. 

“Supermarket?” Jun raised his eyebrows. 

“We have to buy everything for the party,” Aiba said while gazing in disbelief by Jun unawareness. 

“Why us? You can order one of cleaning service boys to do it for us,” Jun switched on his computer and took off his jacket, clearly rejecting Aiba’s invitation. 

“Special order,” Aiba shrugged. 

“Hah?” 

“Read this,” Aiba slid out his phone from his pocket and showed to Jun. It was sent yesterday night, the sender was from a person unknown to Jun.

“Who’s this?” 

“Our director’s assistant, he doesn’t trust the office boys to do it. He wants us.” 

“I’m busy, Aiba san,” Jun said abruptly. But Aiba didn’t listen to him; he dragged Jun to a supermarket which was located near to the museum. He wrote down the things they needed to buy on his notebook; he divided it into two parts and had Jun to buy the decorations. 

The decoration section was on the third floor; Jun pushed the trolley reluctantly, he hated shopping in the first place. The second floor was a huge stationary shop with colorful board in front of it. Jun was on his way to find an escalator to the third floor when he saw a young boy – around 17 or 18, stealing something from the shelf, and inserting them to his bag without an expression. Accidentally their gazes met, Jun was looking right into a rounded handsome face, the young boy didn’t break the contact; he smirked at Jun and flipped his body, disappearing into the crowd. 

If he had more time; perhaps he should have chased the boy and dragged him to the security, but it had nothing to do with him. 

He and Aiba finished the shopping and did the last checking before leaving the supermarket. 

“Let’s have lunch,” Aiba said. “We’ve got everything.” 

Jun nodded. 

“Did you see a young boy on your way?” Jun asked. 

“A young boy?” 

“He stole something from the stationary section,” Jun recalled the boy’s face. 

“That’s not so unusual nowadays,” Aiba shrugged. “So, what do you want for lunch?” Aiba was clearly not interested to talk about that unknown boy. 

***   
On their way back to the museum with Aiba’s car full of their purchases; Jun saw somebody’s face when they stopped at a traffic light – someone with a baseball cap and thick framed eyeglasses; but before he could analyze further, the light had turned green and Aiba stepped on the gas, bringing them back to the museum. Jun shook his head, maybe he was just hallucinating it.

 

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

“He is the biggest mistake in my life.” 

A woman’s voice broke the silence in a gambling site, she was the only woman there; that place was chaotic with garbage everywhere and the smell was enough to kill all rats. The desk was full of ashtrays, beers, cigarette butts and empty glasses. 

“What you’re gonna do to him?” one of the half-drunken men asked. 

“Selling him is the best way.” She spoke while throwing a gaze at a child who was crouched in the corner, holding his knees in agony. 

“He’s too skinny, nobody wants an unhealthy child,” the heavy bearded man said. 

“He’s healthy enough for enslavement,” she replied. The kid crouched deeper, as if wishing the floor to swallow him alive. “I have a friend who is willing to sell him for me,” she continued.

“What if the police find out?” 

“What if the police finds out?” 

“The police is the last thing we need to worry about,” she tossed her cigarette in the ashtray, rose off of her seat and stepped closer to the kid. “What a pity,” she tugged the kid’s hair, strong enough to hurt him. “I shouldn’t have given birth to you in the first place, but it doesn’t matter now; I’ll make money off of you.” 

***  
Sakurai Sho tapped his fingers on his desk; the room where he met with a client was too hot for his liking. They didn’t bother to make it more comfortable for someone as important as him, he could send a complaint to this company though, but he knew his boss wouldn’t like it. And they didn’t have good manners for making him wait; what a damn client, he thought.

“Sakurai san, we’re sorry for keeping you waiting.,” A beautiful woman approached him; she was tall and well proportioned, even taller than Sho.

“I want to keep it short and simple,” Sho said without wasting any seconds. “The new gallery’s interior must be perfect as requested. Here’s the design,” Sho handed his iPod. “And here’s the contract you have to sign.”

The woman had her assistant to take the contract document from Sho’s hand; she paid attention to the interior design, her eyes narrowed. “Your boss has a very high taste,” she commented.

“You’re the only one he can trust,” Sho said. “Anne-san,” he added.

The woman gave him a sarcastic smile, “Your boss is one of a kind, but I like him. It’s been awhile since I saw him last.”

“He had just come back from his trip; he’ll be at the party, if there’s nothing changes his mind.”

“I hope I can make it for the party,” she shrugged.

“I expect the result two weeks from now,” Sho referred to the design. “I have to meet another client today.”

“Sure,” she smiled. “The busy Sakurai Sho,” she added, bathing Sho with her mysterious gaze. “I’ll have my assistant send you the file once I finish it,” she signed the contract, stamped it and gave it to Sho. 

They shook hands; she walked Sho towards the elevator and bowed briefly at him before the doors closed.

Sho checked his watch; he still has enough time for coffee to write a short report for Nakama. He entered a café, loosened his tie and sat down on one of the sofas. A young waiter approached him and asked for his order; Sho mentioned it and told the boy to bring him an ashtray. He slid out his laptop from his briefcase and started typing the report; Nakama had said that she would be responsible for the newly opened gallery since the owner was busy with something else.

Sho had the freedom to run the museum and galleries as long as everything went smoothly; the owner only checked on him every two weeks, either meeting him personally in a random place or talking with him by phone. He has this position for five years now, since he graduated from university. The owner happened to be his friend in high school, even though that was only for six months.

They used to spend time together in the laboratory; the only place they could be alone. His friend was a victim of bullying, since he was a little bit different, but Sho liked him and he didn’t know why he befriended a bullied boy and got himself in trouble.

Suddenly, he remembered a certain event when he bought his friend a pair of eyeglasses as a birthday present.

“Sho kun, my eyes are fine, I don’t need it.”

“Just wear it,” Sho pushed the eyeglasses to his friend’s hand. “You’ll be cuter,” he said.

“But I’m not cute, I’m freaky and creepy.”

It felt like yesterday, but too many things had changed since then; when he met the owner, he almost didn’t recognize him. All of the aspects he called ‘cute’ were gone; he had turned into a frightening man. Sho didn’t dare to ask how he could own a museum and a few galleries in such a short time. He agreed immediately when the man appointed him as the director, giving him a full power to run the museum and art galleries all over Japan. Sho might have known nothing about his boss, but he accidentally read something in his boss’ diary.

“Sho san.”

Sho turned his head to find the caller; a high school boy that he didn’t want to meet, particularly when he was in the middle of work.

“Nino, what are you doing here? You have school, right?” Sho looked at his surroundings, afraid that if somebody he knew spotted him here with a school boy, what would they think of him.

“Let’s say I skipped it,” he grinned, his lips formed a smirk. “And you, what are you doing here?”

“Working,” Sho gestured to the laptop in front of him.

“Why haven’t you called me? I’m running out of money.”

Sho closed his eyes; inhaling a deep breath.

“The owner is busy, he has no time to play,” Sho briefly answered. “You have to find another job.”

The boy sighed, extending his hand to Sho’s cigarette box.

“Put it back,” he said without moving his gaze from the computer screen.

“You can hire me then, if your boss is busy,” Nino said, returning the cigarette reluctantly.

Sho stopped typing and lifted his head slowly to meet Nino’s gaze. He recalled that the first time he saw this face was on the picture his boss showed him. The name, ‘Ninomiya Kazunari’ was written on the picture, along with his phone number. There were other secretaries that weren’t busy as he was who could make a phone call to this boy, but the boss gave this job to Sho just because. He had to call him to inform where he and the boss could meet up and do the holy shit that Sho didn’t want to imagine. Another puzzling thing about his boss; he preferred younger boys, half his age to sleep with him, and Sho was afraid that he might end up the same if he had to meet this Nino on a regular basis.  
Ninomiya had rare handsome qualities with a cute appearance which could make people look twice at him, such a waste to do that kind of work. But, Sho had no right to forbid him, the boss liked this kid, end of story.

“I’ll give you money, how much do you need?” Sho asked.

Nino gave him a mocking look, he shook his head.

“I hate taking money from people without doing something for them,” he answered. “I will only take your money if you hire me.”

“You’re my boss’, I can’t do such thing,” Sho said in a low voice as the waiter came and put down a cup of cappuccino in front of him.

“I’m free to serve anyone who pays me,” Nino glanced at the cappuccino as he spoke.

“You can have it, I’ll order again,” he said, pushing the glass to the boy.

“Thanks,” he said happily.

He watched Nino sip the cappuccino, feeling a rush of pity inside his stomach. This boy deserved more love from everyone, but it seemed that he was ignored, wherever he went. As far as Sho knew, Nino lived in an orphanage until he was 16 and ran away from that place. The good thing about him was he didn’t abandon school; when or how he met his boss; he didn’t want to find out. It would leave him with nightmares for days. Maybe his boss was born for mystery; revealing them was only torture.

“What if you work part time in our museum?” Sho tried to ask, giving up on his report. “You can get money without selling your…body,” he said the last word with some hesitation.

“I don’t like to get stuck at an old museum with only elderly visitors each day,” Nino put his chin on his palms; he laughed as he saw Sho’s expression. “Or maybe because I fell in love with your boss that I won’t do another job.”

“W-what?”

“Just kidding,” Nino wiped his lips; the naughty expression still remained on his face. “Does he come to the museum every now and then?”

“He never stepped his feet there, as far as I know.”

“Then I won’t work there,” Nino pouted. “Oh crap, I still have many things to do at school.”

“You said that you skipped it.”

“I lied,” he drank the cappuccino until the last drop. “Thanks, Sho san. See ya,” he said while running towards the exit door. Sho watched him through the glass wall until he was out of his sight, he tried to justify his feelings but he couldn’t. Nino had ruined his concentration, and he was late to meet with the other client.

***  
Things didn’t go according to plan; nobody wanted that boy. He remained unsold and it led the woman into anger and hopelessness. She unleashed her stress on the poor boy, hitting every part of his body, tugging his hair and crushing his head on the wooden table until the boy collapsed. She only stopped when she recognized the blood on the left side of the boy’s head. 

He was abandoned; he would have died inside the empty apartment if he wasn’t found by an old man who happened to collect the rent from his mother. The old man brought him to the hospital, but it was too late to save his sight; he lost his left eye and since then he hadn’t seen his mother who was never been found.   
*** 

Sho called his secretary, making sure that everything was under control; he was on his way back to the office when he spotted his boss on the street. He told the driver to stop the car; he jumped out and chased him. Basically, there were only a few employees who knew the owner’s face other than Sho; and his boss preferred not to be known.

“Good day,” he greeted the man.

The man smiled weakly as he gave Sho a code to follow him. He wore a simple jacket on top of his navy-blue shirt; his usual baseball cap covered his light brown hair and a thick-framed eyeglasses decorated his face. Seeing his casual attire, who would guess that he was the owner of a museum and a few art galleries; ordinary people would only see him as a simple man who wandered the streets without particular things to do. Some people might think that he was creepy; a freak who sold disgusting sex toys to young girls.

Sho followed the man towards the nearest park and both of them sat down on a bench, enjoying the sunlight.

“How’s work?” he asked Sho in a plain tone while throwing bread crumbs to the birds in the park.

“Busy as usual,” he answered. “I met your boy.”

The man looked at him. Sho had known him for years now, but he had never overcame the feeling whenever those eyes locked on him; even if one of them was just a blank gray eye, it didn’t mean it was less frightening. He wanted to talk to the other like a friend, but he knew that kind of thing had been lost a long time ago; the man beside him was a complete different person – his outer appearance might be the same, but it seemed that he was controlled by another spirit that dwelled in his body. Sometimes, Sho wondered whether his boss still remembered their high school era and how they hid inside the laboratory to avoid the bullies.

“Nino?” he confirmed.

Sho nodded.

“He asked me why I hadn’t called him for awhile,” Sho waited for the other man to give a response. “He offered me service,” he continued, but soon he regretted it as the man frowned.

“Tell him I’m sorry,” he said, “and you can hire him all you like.”

“Ohno san…” Sho wanted to apologize, but the man stopped him.

“I shouldn’t have hired him in the first place, since he’s underage,” Ohno murmured. “Maybe I have to stop.”  
Sho didn’t want to give any comments to the statement; it was clear that Ohno had been keeping something just for himself for these past three months. He didn’t drink anymore; he haven’t asked Sho to do some weird things like he used to do once in a while – calling for a stripper in the middle of Christmas Eve was one of them – and he hid himself even deeper than he already was. As if he wanted to disappear from this world without anyone noticing it.

“Do you plan to come to the party?” Sho asked.

“I haven’t decided,” Ohno shrugged. “I’m quite tired from the trip and I have to finish my painting.”

“Everyone is curious about you; that’s what I heard from my secretary. Maybe you should come, you know, just to check on the museum.”

“There’s no need to know me,” Ohno mumbled, “It’s better to remain unknown, and I trust the museum in your hands; I believe it runs well.”

“Don’t tell me that you want to disappear,” Sho spit out what he had in his mind.

“Disappear?”

“For example, jumping to the turbulence in the seas at night when nobody notices,” Sho said, trying to find any expressions on Ohno’s face, but all the man did was smile at himself and shake his head.

“You are imagining things, Sho kun,” Ohno gave him a shady look, his gray eye seemed to see through him, “I just want to be alone,” he continued.

Sho rose off of the bench since Ohno had signaled him to go; he had stepped too far in discussing this kind of thing with his boss. It was useless to expect the old Ohno he knew years ago.

“Have a good day,” he bowed shortly and left the park.

***  
The next day was a rare day off for Sho; he went to a piano concert after having lunch at his favorite sushi restaurant. It had been a long time since he dated someone; he wasn’t good in relationships and sucked at showing his feelings. His partner left him just like that and married an older man right away. Sho wasn’t particularly sad about the fact; maybe it was his fault that he couldn’t make his partner happy and he enjoyed being alone since then. There were many girls that tried to approach him, but none of them aroused his interest; he had slept with a few of them, but it only left him with more agony than before.

His mind jumped to Ohno; he couldn’t erase his curiosity about the man’s love life. Had he fallen in love before? Was he capable of loving? He was cold and heartless; Sho was just one of his loyal dogs who did everything he ordered. Sho himself didn’t know what made him obey Ohno; sometimes, he wanted to run away from him and never come back. Nevertheless, he couldn’t do that, he was bound to the man in a magical way.

He pushed away his uninvited thoughts about Ohno as he saw a man who walked towards his direction. Sho recognized him as one of L’art de La Vie’s employees, but he couldn’t recall his name.

“Sakurai san, what a coincidence,” he greeted Sho with formal Japanese and bowed respectfully.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name,” Sho smiled apologetically.

“Aiba Masaki,” the man answered.

“Oh,” Sho gestured for him to sit beside him. Aiba looked all awkward like everyone else when they meet their boss out of work, the feeling of not knowing what to do. “Do you go here often?” Sho asked.

“No, I don’t. I’m here today because my friend will perform and I have promised her that I will come.”

“Your friend?”

“Matsushima Nao,” Aiba mentioned, showing the participants of the piano concert. “I heard that Sakurai san is also a pianist,” he continued.

Sho unconsciously crumpled the paper in his hand as the memories of his school days struck him like a sudden tsunami. He tried to forget that he played piano; that he had almost won the best pianist of the year when he was in the third grade of high school; as if he was seeing someone else’s life, he shook his head slowly and forced a grin on his lips to Aiba.

“I have forgotten the piano keys,” Sho said, “They are unsolved puzzle now.”

“But you come to watch piano performances,” Aiba averted his gaze to the poster in front of the hall entrance.  
“There’s no problem of listening to them though,” Sho said while washing away the memories which almost ruled his head.

He entered the hall before Aiba; a young man led him towards the executive seats and wished him a good day. Sho slid out his phone to switch it off, but his hand stopped half-way when he found a name on its screen. It was the first time Nino sent him a message; it was just a short and to-the-point one.

I’ll consider working at the museum

Sho wanted to reply, but he couldn’t find the right words, so he switched it off and pocketed the phone. Since when was he concerned with Nino? That kid had nothing to do with his life; he was Ohno’s pet after all and was just an ordinary high school boy who didn’t give a shit to his future. He concentrated at the performance; it could distract him from reality for a while. The piano’s sound always worked on him. He wanted to play again and had tried to, but he failed. A part of his brain denied giving control to his fingers; the piano keys had turned all black or all white and he couldn’t distinguish them anymore.

***  
The first time Sho met Ohno was inside the gymnasium of their school. Sho didn’t join any sport clubs; he was there to watch a basketball match between classes – not the match exactly, but a particular player. Sho wasn’t a popular kid during his younger days; he didn’t stand out very much, he wasn’t that handsome and his grades were just so-so. Piano was the only thing he was good at, but for some reasons, he didn’t perform at school. He had a crush on the captain of the basketball team who was also the cleverest student in school, but the chance to confess his feelings was almost nonexistent.

Ohno sat at the corner; hugging his knees like a lost kid. Sho approached him slowly; this boy must have been a transferee, he had never seen him before.

“Hi,” Sho greeted him.

Ohno was taken aback and lifted his head to look at Sho; something hit Sho’s chest like an arrow, he could see the pain in that face, the reluctant to stay alive and the animosity. The boy’s left eye was a blank grey color, if Sho believed in ghost; he might have thought that Ohno was one of them.

Ohno was taken aback and lifted his head to look at Sho; something hit Sho’s chest like an arrow, he could see the pain in that face, the reluctance to stay alive and the animosity in his eye was visible. The boy’s left eye was a blank gray in color, and if Sho believed in ghosts, he would have thought that Ohno was one of them.

“I’m Sho, what’s your name?” he asked, sitting down beside Ohno.

Ohno eyed him from head to toe; as if considering was it safe to introduce his name.

“Satoshi,” he said, almost in whisper.

“Satoshi kun, are you new here?”

Reluctantly, he nodded.

“I’ll show you around. Let’s be friends.”

A part of him wished that Ohno would decline, but the other boy said yes and thanked him politely.

Unfortunately, Sho was the only one who didn’t mind about Ohno’s weirdness, maybe because he was also a freak. Soon enough, Ohno had become a target of bullying and as if it was planned, the leader of the group was Sho’s crush – the captain of basketball team – Ikuta Toma.

Sho was in a different class, and he didn’t know what Toma did to Ohno in class, but whatever it was, Ohno was affected. He barely told Sho about it, but each day, Sho found that Ohno’s face went plainer; however, he was glad every time Sho tried to protect him by hiding in the laboratory. Ohno would tell him about the story he had read the night before; a novel that Sho couldn’t recall what the title was. Ohno was weird and perhaps Sho’s life would be totally different, if he hadn’t introduced himself to the boy in that sports hall.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, weirdo!” 

A group of high school boys jumped in front of Ohno; blocking his way to the library. The leader of that group grinned at him, just like a wolf finding its prey; he glanced briefly at his friends and returned his attention to Ohno. His face formed a happy smile; so contrast with what he was going to do. 

Ohno shrank, not knowing how to escape from them; he gripped his rucksack like a shield in front of his chest, before it was taken away from him. They threw out everything inside his bag; one of his books laid open, attracting the boys’ attention. 

“Look, he drew something here, what an ugly drawing,” one of them said while showing the drawing book to his fellows. All of them laughed, mocking him. 

“Let me see,” the leader grabbed the book and brought it closer to his eyes, his lips formed a bitter smile before throwing the book to the ground and stepped on it. “I hate drawing,” he hissed. “Let’s get rid of his stuff,” he said to his gang members who agreed his idea almost immediately. 

“Toma, all of his books are full with abstract drawings,” a tall boy said to his friend. 

“What a creepy guy,” Toma hissed. “Burn them all.”He then approached Ohno while grabbing his collar, Toma’s eyes focused on Ohno’s left blind eye and whispered to him, “If you make another drawing, I’ll make you blind for real.”   
He pushed Ohno to the wall, threw him with his empty bag and left him who tried to save the last piece of his drawing book.   
***  
Jun was awakening by the sound of his alarm; he forgot to switch it off the night before. He grabbed it and pushed the off button, trying to get back to sleep, but he couldn’t. He rose from his bed, yawned and adjusted his sight to the morning light which came through his thin curtain. Fox was still asleep on the edge of his bed, his black fur looked  
contrast with the white blanket.

He walked to the kitchen and boiled water to make a cup of coffee while trying to remember his dream. It was Toma again; but the guy didn’t say anything, he was just there, watching Jun in silence and disappearing to an unknown door and left.

It had been ten years; Jun had tried to pull himself away from the memories of Toma, those times were just the old days. He didn’t know whether what he felt for Toma was real love or not, they were too young back then. Toma, after all, was the most popular guy in school, the captain of basketball team, the cleverest student in his grade, and also a bully. The last one, perhaps, was just a small part of him; nobody talked about it in school; the Toma they only knew was the handsome captain who could make all the girls faint.

However, Jun knew that side, and he was just a coward who pretended to not know it.

***

Jun brought his feet on the bowling alley; it had been a while since he came here. He was probably the only guy who came alone on weekends. The other people he saw there were mostly couples; high school students, gays, middle-aged men and women, all of them looked happy; they laughed loudly when their partners couldn’t make any score. Somehow the scene had made Jun feel lonely; he had dated a few women, but none of those relationships lasted very long; they left Jun just like that. Maybe he was just an empty vessel after all; nobody wanted to stay for long time with him, after finding out how empty he was.

He walked towards the corner, and found the only empty space there. He took the ball, swung it and threw it to the pins. It hit half of them; the remaining pins made a weird space in between, like pulled-off teeth. He was about to throw the second ball when someone appeared – the baseball cap he was wearing looked familiar.  
Jun’s heart beat increased rapidly as he recognized the guy; he was the same man who bumped him at the supermarket, the man with the grey left eye. He stopped his movement in throwing the ball and paid attention to the man who was greeting a little girl on his way; he looked less frightening when he smiled, but that smile was just a slight and a short one; it disappeared immediately, like a broken line.

Jun couldn’t pull off his sight from the guy; even when he looked at him. His grey eye was half-hidden by the thick framed eyeglasses he was wearing. Time went slow as the man stepped closer; Jun’s mind wandered everywhere, he imagined the scene where that man pulled a gun from his back pocket and killed everyone within his reach; but nothing happened; the man only asked him politely.

“Excuse me, may I play with you? The other places are occupied and I saw that you were playing alone. Do you mind if I join you?” his voice was soft, like the whispering volume that someone would use when visiting a friend in the hospital.  
Jun gasped; shaking his head in confusion.

“Does that mean I can’t join you?”

“No, no, no, I’m just…sure, you can play here. I’m looking for a partner actually,” Jun answered, trying to grin, but he knew his lips were too stiff to do so.

“Thanks,” he walked to take a ball, and Jun unconsciously followed him with his gaze. The man looked somewhat fragile but dangerous at the same time; he didn’t know how he thought of that way, but he just did. His brown hair sprouted out from his black hat, his shirt covered his body which seemed skinny; Jun could see the veins on his arms and the long fingers which were now taking the ball.

Jun had a hunch that he had seen those fingers before; but where or when, he couldn’t recall. This man; was he a forgotten friend? But he didn’t remember that he had a friend with one grey eye; he would have recognized him immediately if this man was one of his friends.

The man made a perfect strike and gestured Jun for his turn, but Jun stayed unmoving.

“Your turn,” he said.

 

“I hurt my arm,” Jun lied, “I think I can’t lift the ball anymore.”

The man looked at him a little bit longer; as if knowing that Jun had lied to him, but he said nothing and continued playing. Jun took a seat and watched him.

He couldn’t erase his imagination about this man – that he would pull a gun from his pocket and would kill everyone in this building. This man had a kind of threatening aura or so Jun thought, but soon he regretted it as the man turned at him and smiled. He had a shady smile; as if telling him that he was a good guy.

The man continued with another three balls and ended his play; he thanked Jun for sharing the venue and left. Jun felt weird, an unexplainable feeling – it reminded him of a dementor in Harry Potter – maybe he had just experienced the same thing.

He came back home with some groceries and managed to prepare dinner. His cat joined him, meowed a few times and watched Jun as he sliced the potatoes.

“You don’t eat potatoes, Fox,” he talked to his cat. Fox meowed again and left him towards the living room.  
***  
The party planners sure made the museum look grand, despite the fact that there were paintings here and there, with almost no space to move about. Jun’s eyes scanned the huge hall as he ate his lunch in the far corner of the room. He could also hear some of the employees gossiping about the owner - from how the owner looked like to having children from his wives abroad. He didn’t pay much attention about the gossips though; as long as the owner paid them well, he didn’t care at all.

“Jun, may I sit here?” Aiba appeared suddenly with his weird-shaped lunch box; he beamed and pulled a chair with more power than needed.

“Sure,” Jun said. He was about finished eating when Aiba joined.

“I can’t wait to tell you this,” he smiled widely, “I met our director in a piano concert and he was all alone and he talked to me.”

“That’s great,” Jun commented briefly.

“What’s with that cold face?” Aiba protested. “Do you think that he has a girlfriend?”

“I don’t know,” Jun shrugged, glancing at one of the director’s picture on the wall. “With that appearance, maybe he can get a princess as his partner.”

“Probably,” Aiba said, looking disappointed.

Though Jun had already packed his lunch box and finished his drink, he still decided to accompany Aiba until the other finished.

“By the way, do you know about the unsolved case in Kagayakashii high school ten years ago?”

Jun choked, he coughed until he was calm enough to answer Aiba’s question.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“My friend, Nao, is an alumnus. Surprisingly our director studied there too, for six months or so before the case happened. She said that the case was so frightening, as if there was an unseen hand that choked someone to death and the victim was a star of that school, what was his name again, Tama or something.”

Jun suddenly felt ill. If there was a mirror, he would probably see his face turn green before throwing up all the contents of his stomach. He wanted to put a sock on Aiba’s mouth, just so he would shut up. The memory of Toma’s death was a hard blow on him. As he recalled all the scenes in his head, he remembered that the autopsy report showed no signs of forced trauma on Toma’s body which meant that he really kicked the bucket on his own accord - though he didn’t have any idea why he would cause this “accident” to himself.

“Don’t you think that it was weird? Nao said the school never came back to normal after that case. There was also no further investigation. Do you think that our director had something with it? I heard that Tama hated him.”

Jun only listened half-heartedly to what Aiba had said. He couldn’t grab the meaning of their conversation anymore, as if he was swimming under water and was trying to hear from someone that was speaking from the surface.  
Some people even found it weird. Why would a guy like Toma commit suicide despite of his perfect life? Some of them even thought that Toma was murdered by an evil spirit in school. Jun had stopped thinking about it a long time ago;

Toma perhaps was a part of his life, but it seemed too far away from the present and that his old self was just another guy from another galaxy. The case had nothing to do with him, but those dreams…

“Jun, are you okay?” he heard Aiba’s voice, but it was unclear. Jun blinked a few times, trying to get his attention back to the other.

“I’m okay, sorry for daydreaming,” he said.

He wanted to forget the conversation, but he couldn’t. He had just learned that Sakurai Sho – their hot director – had studied in the same school with him, even though it was only for six months. Jun never knew him, he moved to Kagayakashii High School after Sho had left. It meant that Sakurai and Toma were in the same grade, he was their junior back then. Jun didn’t have much social life when he was in high school; he liked being alone in the library and waited there until Toma found him and they would kiss behind the book shelves. His classmates considered him weird and most girls hated him for being chosen by Toma; those were enough reasons for him to be isolated from the alumni annual gathering: he simply had no friends.

He returned to his office, refreshed his computer and turned on the music. An old song by The Carpenters fulfilled the room. He closed his eyes. Why did Aiba tell him about the incident all of a sudden? Why did he think that Jun might have known about it?

The case was written on newspapers, but it was just on a small column at the last page and nobody was interested in it – suicide wasn’t a new thing in Japan after all.

Did Aiba know that Jun was also an alumnus? Someone as clumsy as Aiba would have never checked on Jun’s curriculum vitae; however, what if the director told him to do so? What if they did it to know more about Jun as Toma’s closest person? What if the unknown detective wanted to investigate the case after ten years had passed? But they had declared it as a suicide; that should have been the end of the story.

Jun shook his head. When he imagined too much, it gave him nothing good. He went home earlier that day; but he changed his mind half-way, thinking to watch a movie. He changed direction and headed to a cinema to see what movies they had.

He spotted a group of high school students outside of a DVD store, there were five of them and they were talking about something.

“Really? You plan to work part time during summer break?”

“Yes, it will be fun.”

“By the way, I heard that Nino was spotted outside a love hotel, maybe he was there after selling his ass. He will be expelled if somebody reports it to our school,” the tallest among them said.

“That weirdo?! I will not be surprised if he is expelled; he’s a freak.”

“Yeah, and have no friends.”

“Pitiful guy,” the smallest laughed. “He is bullied all the time; it’s about time he quits school.”

“Looking forward,” they laughed.

Jun couldn’t listen to the rest of their conversation since they entered a bookstore, he continued his steps. The school was all about the popular students and the unlucky ones being bullied, he was no different back then, but he was never involved in a bullying incident. Many students were bullied during his high school era; including those who became Toma’s victims, but he didn’t know much about them.

A boy bumped his shoulder when he was about to enter the cinema. He was short and skinny, and somehow Jun recognized him. He dropped something from his bag – a bundle which looked like an amulet. 

“Hey, you dropped this,” Jun bowed to take it for him.

The boy turned at him; his eyes fixed on Jun’s face. He looked at Jun as if making sure that Jun was a real human.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “And thanks.”

Jun paid attention to the young boy, and he recognized that face. This boy was the one who smirked at him when he spotted him stealing something at the stationary section a while ago.

“You stole something from the supermarket’s stationary section, didn’t you?” Jun said before he could control himself.

The boy lifted his eyebrows and clicked his tongue in displeasure. “Not your business.”

“I’ll take you there to apologize, I’ll pay for what you have taken,” Jun extended his hand to take the boy’s elbow. 

“Are you insane, Sir? Mind your own business,” he said angrily. “Adults suck,” he turned around and left, disappearing to the crowd in no time. Jun had just realized that he still gripped the bundle that boy had dropped. He managed to call the boy, but he couldn’t be seen anymore.

He looked at it closely and read the small letters written there, ‘OS’. He peeked inside and saw photos; he pulled them out and soon he regretted it. They were the boy’s naked poses; someone had taken his pictures, but he looked happy and willing to do it. There were around ten pieces of photos in pocket size and all of them were naked poses in different angles. What kind of person would have asked a high school boy to pose naked for them?

Jun felt like he had just broken in somebody’s bedroom without asking for permission. He placed the pictures back to the pouch and shoved it inside his shoulder bag. His intention of watching a movie was gone. He walked back home after buying a new novel without paying attention on what he bought. Weird things happened one after another these past few days. He wondered what waited for him beyond the unknown door, like what he had seen in his dreams. He was afraid to extend his hand in order to turn the knob; it’s better to let it remain closed forever.  
***  
Jun checked his reflection in the mirror in front of him; he clipped his fringe to the top of his head, combed it once again before wearing his eyeglasses. He wore a cardigan above his red shirt, fastened his shoelaces and stepped outside. Summer had just begun; more visitors would come to the museum, Aiba would be busier, Tabe would complain more often and he would work harder to make sure that the museum artifacts were still in their right places.

He got in the bus and listened to the music from his iPod, the seats were all occupied, and he stood beside a young boy who wore a mask and a baseball cap; hiding his face from people. The cap was the same one that that mysterious man had; he looked once again, making sure that the guy wasn’t him.

When he got out from the bus, that masked boy followed him, feeling suspicious; Jun stopped right in front of the museum and turned his body towards the boy.

“Why are you following me?” he asked.

The boy removed his mask; revealing his handsome face. The naughty face of the boy he had met in the cinema; the one whose naked photos were inside Jun’s bag.

“I want to visit the museum,” he answered, “is that wrong?”

“This early?”

“Same thing to you,” the boy said.

“I work here,” Jun continued his steps, greeted the security and entered the lobby. The boy tailed him all the time. He was about to ask one more question, when a voice heard.

“Nino, finally, I’ve been waiting.”

Jun was taken aback to find Sakurai Sho – the director – standing right in front of them, smiling to the boy beside him.

“Good morning, Sakurai san,” Jun bowed in respect to the man before him.

“I’m here to look around, Sho san,” the boy answered.

Jun gulped, ‘Sho san?!’ That boy addressed the director with his given name; this world must be crazy, what kind of relationship did they have? He shivered just by imagining it.

“Aiba will guide you; he isn’t here yet, so you can wait in my office,” Sakurai said while leading the way after giving Jun a slight smile. Jun walked as fast as he could towards his office and locked the door from the inside. He slid out the pouch from his bag and looked at the naked photos once again. Did Sakurai take these photos? It brought an unpleasant sensation to his stomach; but there was no proof that Sakurai was the maniac who took these pictures. The initials which were written were ‘OS’ instead of ‘SS’. Jun stuffed it back; he decided to return them to the boy later on.

He remembered the conversation among the high school boys which he had overheard; they mentioned the name

‘Nino’. Was this boy the same Nino with what those boys were talking about? If yes, it explained something; they said that Nino was seen outside a love hotel. Did that mean that he sold his body as a part time job? Jun shivered once again. It couldn’t be true; what would Tabe Mikako say if she found out that Sakurai Sho was a cradle snatcher?  
No, Jun thought, it must have not been Sakurai. He was not stupid enough to invite his paid boy to this museum for sightseeing.

“Why do I care?” Jun talked to himself, feeling stupid.

***  
After Sho moved to another school, Ohno was all alone. He would hide inside the laboratory after school and drew abstract forms on his book; the only time he could feel free. He scratched his colors pencils on to the white paper; the abstract shapes somehow calmed him down.

However, today he drew something else. He made a sketch of someone’s face; Ohno didn’t know why this kind of feeling grew inside him. All he could feel was sorrow and unfairness, but this time was different.   
His heart beat faster, not because he was afraid, but something else; something he couldn’t name. He felt it every time he saw a particular person. Ohno would follow him from a distance; hiding behind the school pillars, just to see that beautiful face. 

And he would smile…

That was the first time he smiled for all his life, he felt great, knowing that he still could do something simple like smiling.   
He absorbed that face inside his mind and drew the sketch; he looked at the face for a long time before writing a name below it – Jun.

He ran his fingers on the sketch, imagining how it felt if he could touch that face for real, but that was as impossible as getting his left-eye back. If only Sho was here, maybe he could give Ohno some advice on what to do. He folded the paper and stuffed it properly inside his bag before Toma and his gang members found it. 

Ohno had no experience of being loved by someone else, so the sensation he felt was a kind of confusing. He had never looked at himself in the mirror, what did he expect? The only thing he saw was a boring face with one eye.   
He sat in the back in order to avoid the gazes from his classmates and drew in silence. Drawing was the only thing he was good at; he was hopeless in the other lessons. Passing the exams was just a matter of luck. When Sho was still here, he used to teach him Math and English, but he had moved to another city, leaving Ohno to struggle by himself in this school.   
***

 

To Be Continued


	4. Chapter 4

Sho paid attention to the young boy before him and had the same unpleasant thoughts all over again. Nino’s sly smile bothered him and it was driving him crazy. He had to struggle with his inner self to avoid doing something dirty to the boy.

“Sho san, can I see Ohno kun again?” 

Nino’s voice was heard, but it didn’t reach him well.

“Sho san?” 

“Oh, sorry,” Sho murmured. “I didn’t sleep that much these few days,” he added. 

“There are bags under your eyes,” Nino leaned closer and looked at him as if observing. 

Sho shivered and pulled himself further away from the boy; pretending to check something on his computer.

“About Ohno kun,” Sho began, “he doesn’t come here or any of his galleries.”

“Why?” 

“Don’t ask me,” Sho avoided Nino’s gaze. 

Both of them fell into an intense silence. Sho checked the schedule on his phone and noticed that they still had a week before the launching party; everybody was busy and he had to make sure that all of the invited guests would attend it.   
“Who is the guy we met just now?” Nino asked. He rose from his seat and walked around the office to observe a painting on the wall. 

“He’s one of our registrars; kind of a weird guy,” Sho said. He didn’t know that guy’s name and took a mental note to ask Aiba about it later. 

“He said weird things to me,” Nino said. 

“Don’t mind him.” 

“If I work here, it means I have to meet him every day.” 

Sho stood up and walked over to where Nino was. He joined him to look at the painting hanging on the wall. He extended his left hand to give Nino’s shoulder a friendly pat.

“I’ll make sure that he will leave you alone,” he said. 

Nino’s lips produced a sweet smile as he heard what he said. “I want to see Ohno kun. I miss him.” 

Sho’s stomach clenched, but he forced a smile, “I’ll tell him that.” 

“Really?”   
Sho nodded. 

A knock was heard on the door and Aiba’s head peered inside. 

“I’m sorry I’m late, Sakurai san,” Aiba bowed so low that his nose almost touched his knee. 

“It’s okay,” Sho said, dismissing the apology with a wave of his hand. Then, gesturing to Nino, he said to Aiba, “Please take him around and explain the rules and regulations of the museum to him.”

“Yes, Sakurai san,” Aiba answered, respect was heard in his voice. The guy smiled at Nino and led him towards the door. 

Before Aiba and Nino got out of the room, Sho suddenly spoke, “Aiba san, please get back here when you’re done.”

“Yes, Sir,” the guy beamed. 

“What about me?” Nino asked. 

“You can wait for me wherever you want; I will take you home later,” Sho addressed Nino. With his familiarity with Nino, he could sense that Aiba was puzzled, but ignored it. As Nino and Aiba left, leaving an awkward silence in the room, Sho returned his attention back to the painting. It was the first painting that Ohno created. The shapes on it seemed like a jungle that was filled with darkness and loneliness. He couldn’t guess the meaning behind the painting; only Ohno would know, but he wouldn’t - no, he couldn’t ask him about it.

He had the rest of the day free. He decided to stay at the museum and later on, he would take Nino for a stroll. He left his office and walked towards the gallery; there weren’t much visitors at this time of the day and only met a girl in her mid-twenties. She didn’t notice him; however, when Sho greeted her, she seemed to lose her ability to speak. He felt guilty at her reaction - he knew that many female employees considered him as an idol; it wasn’t his first time to see someone react to him that way after all.

“Sa, Sakurai san, good morning,” she returned his greeting as properly as she could. 

Sho smiled at her and told her to continue her work. He looked at the new paintings they got from the government officials around a week ago. Aiba had done a great work, despite of his nervousness and awkwardness. He paid attention at them one by one; he didn’t understand art at the highest level, but none of these paintings could make him shiver like Ohno’s work. 

Sho didn’t know where Ohno lived; he never revealed his address. He was just like his paintings; full of mysteries and darkness. If he thought about Ohno, it always ended up in a dead end; there was nothing he could use as a clue to learn what happened to Ohno after he moved from their school. He tried to imagine it, but everything seemed blurry and impossible. Maybe Ohno had died somewhere and somebody who looked exactly like him replaced him after learning about all of his past. 

His phone vibrated and a short message appeared. 

“Sho, meet me at Sky Tree around 7 tonight” 

Sho shivered. He felt a nauseating sensation as he imagined Ohno watching him and gouging his brain for  
information about his feelings for Nino. It was as if Ohno knew that he was overstepping his authority towards Nino. He gulped as he closed his eyes before typing a reply.

He returned to his office and waited for Aiba there; the guy came immediately after finishing his task in explaining about the museum to Nino. 

“Have a seat, please,” Sho gestured to a chair across him. Aiba did as told. He fumbled with his fingers nervously on his lap.

“Aiba san, who’s our registrar? I forgot.” 

Aiba seemed to be surprised by the question; maybe he expected something more serious than this. 

“Matsumoto Jun,” he answered. 

“Matsumoto,” Sho repeated the name. “What kind of guy is he?” 

“He always comes on time for work and rarely makes mistakes. He likes working on details and…” 

“I mean his personality aside from work,” Sho cut him.

“Oh…I don’t, we don’t go out together and I don’t even know his phone number.” 

“Okay,” Sho united his fingers. “You may leave, thanks so much.” 

Aiba rose off of the chair with some hesitation and walked towards the door. Nino appeared a few minutes later with a naughty smile on his lips. 

“Kidnap me for today,” he said.   
***   
Ohno drew more details of Jun’s face on his sketch; he posted it on the wall and looked at it before he went to bed. Somehow, it relaxed him in its own way. He lived with his mother’s cousin who barely cared about him. Ohno did a part time job for a living – selling his body in a hidden sex club, the only thing he could do because nobody wanted to hire him. They said that his blind eye would bring them bad luck; it left him no choice but working in the club.

Ohno had no time to pity himself; he tried to erase all of the emotions inside him and replaced it with numbness. He turned more heartless each day since Sho left him; the only emotion he had was a weird feeling towards Jun. He didn’t hate Toma and his gang members; he didn’t hate Sho for leaving him alone; he didn’t hate his mother for what she had done to him, what he felt was something different, as abstract as his drawings. 

Maybe he would never have a chance to talk with Jun; he was Toma’s property in the first place. Even if he had a chance, Jun would only see him as a weird guy; a spooky one-eyed-guy. Seeing him from the distance was good enough.   
***   
“Ohno san will scold me for bringing you along,” Sho said to Nino as they walked through the corridor. Nino begged him and told Sho that he would keep selling his body to other men other than Ohno if Sho rejected. Sho could say that it was none of his business, but he held himself from saying so. 

“Please, please, please,” Nino united his fingers, as if praying to him. 

Sho was about to say something when Matsumoto came out from his room at the end of corridor. His eyes found Nino first and then he bowed at Sho. The latter remembered what Aiba told him about this man; Sho never paid attention on Matsumoto’s appearance and now he had a chance to do so. 

The man before him was a good-looking-guy with half of his fringe clipped to the top of his head. His big eyes looked unnatural for a Japanese and his thick eyebrows suited those large eyes. His lips were full and decorated by two moles on the upper lip and another one on the lower part. His skin was fair and rather pale; in other word, this man was a totally handsome creature. 

“Hey, that’s my pouch!” Nino shouted and grabbed the pouch from the man’s hand. “Did you see what’s inside?” 

“No,” the man answered in an instant. “You dropped it when we met at the cinema.” 

“That was your fault,” Nino said and looked at Sho, seeking for support. 

“Matsumoto san,” Sho said. “Sorry for that,” he glanced at the pouch, “enjoy the rest of your day. Come on Nino, let’s go,” he walked before the kid followed him with hesitation as if he wanted to resume his fight with Matsumoto. 

“You said that you’ll tell him how to behave.” 

“Nino,” Sho turned around, “I’ll do that, in a proper way; like an adult.” 

“So, there’s that kind of rule here?” the boy frowned. 

“You’d better go home,” Sho stated. 

“No. I want to see Ohno kun,” Nino said hard-headedly as he absently grabbed the pouch tightly. 

Sho sighed, he took Nino too easy, and he never thought that he could become so troublesome like this. He had a bad feeling about the meeting with Ohno tonight and Nino’s company would become a problem. However he knew that the boy would never give up in getting what he wanted and he was too weak to say no. 

They waited for Ohno at the spot where he had mentioned. Nino was playing with his phone all the time and ignored Sho completely. Sho, meanwhile chose to stand at a distant place with the boy and used that time to smoke. He glanced at his watch; it was unusual for Ohno to be late. He turned his sight at the people around them. All of them looked happy or maybe he was only imagining it; they smiled at their partners or to themselves as they talked with someone on the phone. 

Ohno appeared around ten minutes later; his steps were cat-like that Sho didn’t notice him coming. He wore a black shirt and a black pair of jeans and a usual baseball hat covered his reddish hair. He leaned on the wall and folded his arms in front of his chest; he waited until Sho finished his cigarette and threw it to the nearest trash bin. 

“You brought him along,” Ohno said. 

“He insisted,” Sho answered. He approached the man; joining him in leaning on the wall. “What’s the matter?” he asked without wasting time. 

“I’ll be at the party,” Ohno said. “Like what you have been planning.” 

Sho was taken aback, Ohno didn’t like crowded places; if he wanted to have dinner in a famous restaurant, Sho would have to book the whole place for a few hours. There was no way for Ohno to be at the party. 

“And I want you to find me a place to stay near the museum,” Ohno said again before Sho could say a reply to his first statement. “I need to finish my painting, and for that, I have a hunch that I must stay near the museum,” he added. 

Sho didn’t give any comment on that sudden request; Ohno was full of surprises already. 

“Find me an apartment and a bicycle,” he said, sliding out a cigarette from its box and placed it between his lips.   
Sho nodded and noted it on his iPod.

“Anything else?” he asked. 

“No,” Ohno said, thrusting his hands into his jacket pockets. “Thanks in advance.” 

Sho was about to say something when Nino appeared out of nowhere; he ran to them and formed a broad smile as he saw Ohno’s face. 

“Ohno kun!” he beamed as he found his idol. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you call me?” 

“Sorry,” Ohno mumbled an answer. Sho tried hard not to frown; he busied himself with his phone as Nino began to ask many things to Ohno, who reluctantly spoke. 

“Sho,” he called. “I want Matsumoto Jun to become an additional bartender for the party, you know, pouring the drink, it isn’t that hard,” Ohno said. 

“We have enough bartenders for the party,” Sho said. 

“Just do what I said.” 

Sho shut his mouth and didn’t argue anymore; Ohno wasn’t particularly mad at him, but somehow he heard the disappointment in Ohno’s voice, which was worse than any anger. 

“Nino, go home with Sho kun,” he said to the young boy. “I hope you’ll agree to work in the museum. Sho kun will guide you.” 

Nino nodded, but he was clearly disappointed that his meeting with Ohno didn’t turn out the way he wanted. Ohno craned his neck to Sho and the latter felt as if Ohno looked through him and read his mind. Like what he thought for the nth time. 

“Have a good night, for the both of you,” Ohno said as he turned away and disappeared to the crowd. 

Sho kept his iPad and glanced at Nino whose eyes were still following Ohno. He didn’t know what made Nino put a liking to Ohno who treated him like his loyal dog. But what about him? He was more than a pet; he was Ohno’s servant who did everything as told and he couldn’t get away from the chain. If Ohno told him to jump to the death valley, he would do that as well.

“Nino,” he called the boy who followed him in silence towards the parking lot. “I’ll drive you home.” 

***   
Sho was busy the following week; he had to finish a few contracts, meet clients, and meet Nakama Yukie for a monthly report. He had already rented a simple apartment for Ohno near the museum and searched for a nice bicycle too. 

The party preparation went well as he had expected; the only thing he needed to worry about was himself. He couldn’t sleep well for these past few days and even if he could, nightmares were ready to welcome him. The worst part of him that remained mystery was his obsession with Nino; despite of their age difference and the fact that Nino was one of Ohno’s pets. He remembered how Nino grabbed the pouch from Matsumoto’s hand. What was inside that pouch? Nino’s expression when he asked Matsumoto whether he had seen the content was nearly in panic and anger.   
There were only two days left before the party. Sho got the final report from Aiba; the guy wrote three pages of that and Sho was sure that he got some help from his friend – maybe that handsome Matsumoto. Talking about Matsumoto…

“I know everything about him.” 

Ohno’s words echoed in his head; he didn’t know whether that guy told him the truth or the other way around; but he had no right to ask that to his boss and Ohno would not give him any answer anyway. He had a hunch that something would happen, or perhaps Ohno would let it happen on purpose.   
*** 

Sho wore his best tie to the party, combed his hair properly and made sure that there were no wrinkles on his expensive shirt. He would be delivering a short opening speech to all of the attendees and he had to look fabulous in front of them all. 

A few reporters would be at the party as well; Sho couldn’t miss the chance to promote the new gallery and the museum, and he would make Ohno proud with his performance. However, when he turned on his car engine, he reminded himself that Ohno was just a heartless person – he couldn’t feel; even something like pride.

Once, he had offered himself to Ohno. It was around a year ago; both of them were too drunk to think straight, but Sho was worse than Ohno. He remembered that he stripped himself naked and jumped to the bed and clung on Ohno’s neck. He didn’t know what made him do that, but the next day, he found himself laying on the bed alone with complete hotel pajamas. There was no sign that Ohno had touched him; he didn’t dare to look at Ohno’s face for weeks, even though the boss acted as if nothing had happened. If Ohno was really a heartless person, he wouldn’t have dressed him before leaving him. 

He drove slowly, there were still two hours left before the party begins. When he got there, he found the same girl whom he met a few days ago. She wore a nice red dress and simple make-up and beside her, stood Aiba Masaki with his grey suit. 

“Good evening,” Sho greeted both of them. 

Aiba bowed immediately, but the girl spent ten seconds to look at Sho before returning his greeting. She was totally nervous; just like the last time they met. 

“Sakurai san, have you checked the guest list?” Aiba asked. 

“Not yet, what’s wrong?” 

“As far as I remember, we didn’t invite anyone named Ohno Satoshi, but someone with that name called me and said that he got an invitation,” Aiba said with some confusion. 

“Oh,” Sho cleared his throat. “Let him in, he’s one of my friends. I invited him without checking the list.” 

“Yes, Sir,” Aiba nodded and noted something on his book.

“Sakurai san, would you like to have some soft drinks?” the girl beside Aiba offered him a bottle of cola. 

“Thanks,” Sho took it from her and brought it towards his room. He wasn’t in the mood to drink right now, so he put it in the freezer and dialed his phone to call Ohno, but the number was out of reach. 

He checked his appearance in the mirror again, straightened his tie and smiled.   
***   
The first time Ohno met with Nino was in a game center. The boy stole his hat when he left for the restroom; Ohno followed him and caught him red handed in front of a dull apartment which happened to be Nino’s place. 

The boy reminded him of himself; his skinny body, his desperate look, the hopelessness which were clearly shown in his eyes – everything struck Ohno as if he was seeing his younger self. 

Nino looked back at him; his face filled with a frightened expression, but he didn’t fight back when Ohno held his hand. 

“You can have that hat,” he said. 

The boy didn’t answer. He was just frozen there until Ohno released him and left. 

“Wait!” he chased Ohno after a few meters. “My name is Nino.” 

Ohno turned around and smiled at the young boy; he saw a glimpse of bravery shown in that cute face as he tried to return the smile. 

“Thank you,” Nino said, “for the hat.” 

Ohno waved his hand as he walked away, he would meet this boy again and he was sure that Nino was more than willing to do that.


	5. Chapter 5

Jun read the message he had just received from Aiba a few hours before the party began. The guy told him that he would become an additional bartender with some professionals. Jun had to read the message a few more times to make sure that Aiba didn’t send it by mistake. 

He came earlier to the museum; the catering guys and some people from the event organizer were there to do the final check. Jun walked straight towards his office, someone had sent him a box of bartender’s uniform, and his name was written on the box and a small memo on it. 

‘Good luck’ 

Jun took it, the handwriting was beautiful; it was obvious wasn’t Aiba’s. He stuffed it inside his pocket absently. The uniform wasn’t as bad as he imagined; they were made from a good material and fit him perfectly. Jun rolled the sleeves up to his elbow and adjusted his watch on his left wrist before leaving his office. He greeted a few employees on his way; a few of them took a longer look at him than usual as they saw Jun’s outfit.

Aiba was there; he looked gorgeous in his grey suit and a nice tie decorated his neck, his hair was well-combed as well and a broad smile formed in his lips.

“Matsujun,” he called, “come here, we should take a picture together,” he slid out his phone and dragged Jun closer. He set the front camera and leaned his head near Jun’s, “Smile,” he said. Jun grinned to the camera and just realized how pale he was. 

“I have to check the guests list,” he said to Jun. “You can go to the bar, maybe a little bit practice will help,” he winked at Jun and disappeared. 

Deciding that Aiba was probably right about getting some practice, Jun went to the bar that was especially for the event. As he reached the bar, he saw a lone bartender that was a few years younger than he was, counting the liquor and noting it on his iPod. He approached the bartender with a smile and greeted him.

“Hi.” 

“Oh, hi, I was informed that you will become an additional bartender; I’m here to help,” the young man said.   
Jun wondered who informed this man, but he didn’t ask. “Please take care of me, I’m Jun,” he introduced his name. 

“Kamenashi,” the man extended his hand to shake his. “Please wait a moment, I’m still doing the final check,” he said.  
“Yes, sure,” Jun said. He paid attention to his surroundings; the backyard was completely changed, he barely recognized it now. He could see Aiba’s standing spot from here. He bowed to someone, no other than Sakurai Sho, the honorable director. Tabe was there too, she was all nervous when Sakurai looked at her and returned her greeting. 

More guests came as Jun stared blankly ahead. When he focused on the guests, he noticed some clients, some other people that he didn’t know - which probably were friends of the owner or some from the high class. Then he saw a man - a man that he recognized vividly even though he looked different on a suit. His hair looked reddish without the presence of his baseball cap and a-thick-framed eyeglasses adorned his face, softly hiding his eyes. Jun smiled at Aiba and Tabe who seemed to have frozen in their places as the man approached them.

Jun kept on looking at the man; maybe he was one of Sakurai’s acquaintances who were also invited to this party. 

“Jun,” Kamenashi called him. “You’ll be my waiter.”

“Waiter?” 

“I’ll make cocktail and you deliver them to the guests,” Kamenashi smiled. 

“But, I was told to become a bartender.” 

“It’s okay,” Kamenashi put his hand on Jun’s shoulder. “Being a waiter is less boring, besides, you can attract some hot men’s attention and if you’re lucky, perhaps one of them will take you home.” 

Jun grinned, not knowing how to answer that straightforward statement. He had never looked for any one-night-stand partners and he didn’t think he wanted to do that anyway. 

The party site was soon filled by people; Sakurai climbed to the podium and waited for the guests to pay attention to him before beginning his speech. Jun’s eyes wandered around to look for the reddish haired man, but he was nowhere to be found. He saw Nino instead; the kid was sitting at a corner, typing something on his phone. He averted his gaze from the boy; seeing him only raised his curiosity regarding the naked photos he had seen inside the pouch. 

Sakurai finished his speech and all of the guests clapped their hands; the guests started to separate around and many of them approached the bar to get some drink. Jun was busy in assisting Kamenashi, he didn’t pay attention to his surrounding, he put the glass in front of the guest’s table and gestured them to have a good night without really seeing their faces. 

“Can I have a glass of brandy please?” 

“Yes, Sir, please wait a moment…” Jun lifted his head and met the gaze with the man he had been looking for. He held his breath for a couple of seconds as he saw the man smiled at him. 

“Oh…hi,” he said to the frozen Jun. “We meet again.” 

“Please wait a minute, Sir,” Jun bowed and walked quickly towards the bar. He couldn’t analyze why his heart beat like crazy. It was almost two weeks since he met that man in a bowling center and every time he saw that plain face, he felt strange – as if seeing his forgotten past. 

He mentioned the man’s order to Kame and looked again towards him again; as if the man knew it, he craned his neck and waved at Jun. He distracted his gaze as quickly as he could and murmured to Kame that he needed to go to the restroom. 

“The man is over there,” he pointed to the table at the center, “red haired man,” he said. 

He walked towards the museum restroom, loosened his watch and washed his face on the sink while looking at his own reflection. He closed his eyes for seconds while inhaling deeply to calm his nerves, he felt that he turned sick all of a sudden. He entered one of the cubicles to do his business and just realized that he left his watch on the sink. He heard footsteps outside; someone had entered the restroom as well. 

Jun flushed the toilet and cleaned himself; he opened the door and saw Nino’s back who left the restroom as fast as he could; his watch was gone. He clenched his fists and ran outside to chase the boy. That watch was so precious to him and now he felt so stupid to leave it just like that on the sink. 

“Wait!” Jun chased him through the corridor, the boy ran so fast that he lost him half-way. He panted and continued running; there was no way out from here, Nino must have hidden behind pillars or sculptures. 

He leaned to the wall and waited; the museum wasn’t affected by the crowd outside, it stood still like a cool giant. The silence was so intense, particularly at night, the dark corridor looked more mysterious and the cold bit Jun’s skin; despite of the summer. 

He heard footsteps coming closer; it was Nino for sure, giving up since he couldn’t find the exit. Jun approached him and saw his yellow tennis shoes moving further away from him. He ran towards the boy and finally got closer to touch him. He extended his hand to the boy’s shoulder and caught his jacket, it was enough to reduce his balance; Nino stumbled and fell forwards, it was too late for Jun to prevent him from hitting the antique jar in front of him. Nino broke the jar which fell to the lacquered floor and produced spectacular sound in that quiet corridor. 

Both of them froze as they saw the broken jar; it was too late for Jun to realize that they were in a corridor where Sakurai’s room was located. He hoped the man wasn’t there, but perhaps tonight was not his best night since Sakurai appeared from the room a few meters from them. His face frowned as he saw the scene which welcomed him. Jun bit his lower lip; he must prepare himself to sign a resignation letter tonight to pay for his mistake. 

Sakurai approached them; his sight fell first to Nino and then to the broken jar. Finally, he looked at Jun with a frowning face. Jun gulped when he realized that Nino’s hand was bleeding hard. 

“Wait in my office,” he ordered. 

Jun had no choice, he rose off of the floor, watching as Sakurai helped the boy. Sakurai took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around Nino’s hand. 

“I’ll have somebody bring you to a hospital,” he said while supporting Nino’s body towards the exit. 

Jun looked at the broken jar once again before entering Sakurai’s office. It was his first time to be here, the office was large with many decorations which looked expensive. There was a painting on the wall near the door, right in front of Sakurai’s desk, as if it was put there on purpose so Sakurai could look at it every time he felt bored. 

Jun approached the painting; it was an abstract, the unexplainable shape looked like a labyrinth for him. Whoever painted it must have been so lonely and confused, Jun thought. He found a small signature on the right bottom part, they were initials – ‘OS’ – somehow it raised something at the back of his head. Was this the same OS with the initial he found in Nino’s pouch? 

As Sakurai entered his office, he coughed to announce his presence. Jun scrambled and fixed himself before bowing. He waited for the man to sit down before taking a seat. Sakurai crossed his hands above the desk then, looked at Jun.  
“Explain,” he said. 

Jun looked down; he explained about what happened in a plain tone. 

“You are assigned as a bartender, what were you doing at the corridor?” Sakurai asked suspiciously. 

“Nino took my watch,” he said. “I chased him to get it back.” 

“Do you have any proof that he was the one who took your watch?” 

“I saw him,” Jun said, trying to keep his tone as calm as he could. 

“That’s not enough as a proof,” Sakurai stood up and walked around the table, “You broke the antique jar, it was from the 18th century.” 

‘I know,’ Jun stated inside his mind, he could mention all of the properties in this museum without missing a single thing. 

“Am I being fired?” Jun asked after a few minutes passed in silence. 

Sakurai inhaled a deep breath, “No,” he said briefly. “But, I have to make sure you’re penalized for it. Breaking an antique jar is a serious mistake; you should have been fired, but…” Sakurai didn’t continue his sentence. “My secretary will inform you on what to do to pay your debt, you’re dismissed,” he said. 

Jun rose off of the chair and headed the door, but before he left, he turned around and once again glanced at the painting. 

“I haven’t noted that painting on the database,” he said. 

Sakurai was taken aback, he looked straight at Jun and showed a slight smile for the first time, “It’s not the museum’s property.” 

Jun didn’t ask further; he left the room and saw a few people from the cleaning service that were taking care of the mess he had created at the corridor. He returned to the party site; most of the guests had already left, there were only a few people left, including the red haired man. He sat in the bar, smoking casually. Jun approached the bar and found Kamenashi who was half drunk. 

“Hi Jun,” he said with unfocused sight. “Want some drink?” he gestured a glass to Jun. 

“No,” Jun shook his head. 

“You should try, at least a bit,” the red haired man said. Jun turned to him, he was smiling, his eyeglasses were stuffed on his pocket, and he looked different without it. Jun was grateful for the dim light that he didn’t need to see the man’s grey eye clearly. “Jun kun,” he mentioned Jun’s name. 

Jun felt warm on his cheeks, the man must have read the name tag on his chest. 

“Nice name,” he commented again. “The kanji character suits you, you have a refreshing aura around you,” he gestured at Jun to sit down beside him. 

He had no choice but to obey him, besides, he wanted to forget what had happened at the corridor. He didn’t want to think about what kind of punishment that Sakurai would give him; he sadly looked at his left wrist, his precious watch…

“Here,” the man pushed a glass to him. “I can see that you’re thinking of many things, it will make you better.” 

Jun smiled weakly and received the drink, he sipped it in one gulp, a strange warmth rushed to his throat, he didn’t drink alcohol that much, but he knew that this was a strong one. The man drank his brandy like water and then looked at Jun with a shady expression.

“I’m Ohno,” he mentioned his name. “We met twice before, correct me if I’m wrong,” he said. 

Jun recalled their encounters; this man helped him at the convenient store and joined him to share the bowling site. He nodded. 

“Do you work here?” Ohno asked. 

“Yes,” Jun answered, looking at the glass before him. “It’s been two years,” he added. 

“Do you like the job?” 

“Yeah,” he said, “and you? What kind of work do you do?” Jun asked in return. He couldn’t imagine if this guy worked in a bank or some other places that was service oriented. 

“I paint,” the man said shortly. 

“You’re a painter?” he confirmed. 

Perhaps one of his works was displayed here in this museum. Jun didn’t particularly like paintings, he worked here just because he wanted to run away from crowded places and he avoided meeting people, but the one in Sakurai’s office had attracted his attention out of the blue. 

“Sort of,” Ohno nodded, sliding out another cigarette from its box. 

“What kind of paintings do you make?” Jun asked again. He gulped the remaining Martini; it burned his throat but he didn’t care. The alcohol helped him reduce the burden inside his chest. 

“Do you want to see them?” Ohno leaned closer. “I can show you if you want.” 

Jun hesitated; he had just known this man and he had no reason to trust him. He shook his head while showing an apologetic smile. 

“Maybe next time,” he said. 

Ohno walked around the bar and came back with a bottle of drink, he refilled Jun’s glass and his own as well before sitting again. 

“The bartender knocked off,” he said. “Can you make any cocktails?” 

Jun shook his again, “I’m just an ordinary museum employee,” he said. 

“It’s all we got,” he gestured to the bottle. His eyes fixed on Jun’s face as if looking for something there, Jun sipped the drink, he looked to their surroundings, and almost all of the guests had left the venue. He thought about Aiba; did he try to attract Sakurai’s attention? Or worked his ass off with that Tabe, whatever could happen if you’re drunk. 

Jun couldn’t remember the details of their conversation; he told Ohno about his work and about him being reprimanded by the director because he broke a precious jar on his way in chasing a boy who he thought had stolen his watch. His head went heavy as the night grew deeper; he leaned to the cold glass table before him and he felt somebody laying a hand on him. 

It came all of a sudden as the hand touched him. He saw his younger self on his high school uniform, holding his bag when he ran to shelter from the rain. The memory was a kind of blur that Jun couldn’t distinguish it whether it was his or somebody else’s. There was another boy there, sheltering with him, but he was half-hidden behind the pillar. He didn’t see his face clearly, he tried to dig deeper to the memory, but the strange warmth had covered him and he decided to put it aside for now. He welcomed the warmth and closed his eyes tightly. 

***   
Jun’s head was still heavy when he tried to open his eyes; he was in a particular room – somewhere which looked familiar. The bed or whatever it was felt so warmth beneath his skin; a man was right beside him. He wanted to ask him what were they doing here, but his tongue was so stiff and it was glued in his mouth. The man’s hand reached for the blanket and covered him; Jun didn’t know why he suddenly felt that he had to keep the man close; he held the man’s arm and pulled him closer. It had been so long since he held somebody, he felt contented and secured, they stayed like that for a long time and when the man inched closer, he didn’t hesitate to kiss him. His lips were sweet; perhaps it was because of the alcohol he had consumed. Jun tightened his embrace, but the last strength within him had left and he returned limp. The last thing he saw was the man’s hands; trying to loosen his clothes. 

***   
Sunlight hit Jun’s face when he woke up the next morning. He was still dizzy from the hangover. He recollected his thoughts, but he remembered no detail; all he knew he was drunk enough to go back home by himself. 

Talking about going back home…

At first, he thought it was his apartment, but now he learnt that he was in someone else’s house. The interior was almost the same as his, but he had more things and his curtain was dark red instead of light blue. The bed he slept in was a king sized bed and the sheets were of a high quality brand, Jun could feel it by its softness. He looked at his surroundings; there was a simple working desk at the corner and a closet beside it. A mirror was hanging on the wall along with a painting; it was an abstract. 

Then, Jun suddenly realized that he was wearing pajamas; somebody had changed his clothes while he was asleep. He remembered the man who held him last night and his stomach clenched unpleasantly. Did he do something to him?   
He slowly climbed down the bed and walked towards the door; the delicious smell of coffee and toast welcomed him. He peered and saw Ohno was spreading a jam on his toast. He wore a simple T-shirt above his jersey, his eyeglasses were nowhere to be seen – he looked totally different, like less frightening. 

“Oh, you’re awake,” Ohno smiled at him. 

Jun couldn’t decide which question he should ask first; so he sat down beside Ohno in order to avoid his grey eye. 

“I made a cup of coffee for you,” Ohno said, gesturing to a cup. “What jam do you prefer?”

“Cheese please,” Jun answered. 

He awkwardly took the toast from Ohno’s hand and thanked him with a tiny voice. Ohno kept on looking at him – it was useless to avoid those eyes after all. 

“Did we…?” Jun couldn’t hold for any longer, he stated what was in his mind. 

Ohno’s expression didn’t even change when he said, “What do you think?” 

“What I think? You changed my clothes and I slept in your bed and we just met, you can’t just do something like that to me…” Jun inhaled deeply; maybe he was over reacting. 

“I changed your clothes, yes,” Ohno answered, “because it was stained with wine. You’ll catch a cold if I let you stay in that outfit. You were too drunk to go home, so I had no choice than to bring you here, and you slept like Sleeping Beauty; I only have one bed, it would be too rude if I let you sleep on my couch.” 

Jun looked at the toast and murmured another question, “So, all we did was sleeping, right?” 

Ohno didn’t answer him; he chewed his toast and gave Jun a mysterious look. Jun decided to stop, even if they did something, he didn’t remember it and he considered it as a no. 

“The painting on your bedroom wall,” Jun changed the topic, “it was an abstract; did you paint yourself?” 

Ohno sipped his coffee before answering him, “Yes.” 

Jun remembered the painting he saw in Sakurai’s office and tried to connect it with the one he saw in Ohno’s bedroom. 

“Did you sell your painting to L’art de Lavie Museum?” he asked. 

“No, what makes you think that?” 

“No, it’s nothing,” Jun sipped his own coffee; feeling that he had crossed the line of a privacy border that he shouldn’t ask. 

Ohno’s fingers were tapping the table softly and it attracted Jun’s attention; these fingers touched him last night, these fingers held his back tightly, giving him the weird warmth that he had been longing for a long time. He extended his hand and held those long fingers; Ohno lifted his head and met his eyes. 

“Have I known you for a long time?” Jun asked.


	6. Chapter 6

Sho had reported about what happened in the museum to Ohno; even though he didn’t know how to report the antique jar. The boss, however, hadn’t yet replied to his email and he had to take care of Nino in the hospital as the party ended. Ohno didn’t order him to do so, but Sho knew that Nino had nobody; it was painful to imagine him going back home in such condition. 

Nino was waiting at the hospital lobby when Sho got there; his right hand was tightly wrapped with a bandage. He smiled at Sho as he approached him; despite the wound he suffered. 

“Shall we go home now?” he asked the boy. 

He nodded as a respond and followed Sho’s steps towards the parking lot. 

“Did you steal Matsumoto’s watch?” Sho asked Nino who walked a step behind him. 

“I didn’t,” he answered briefly. 

“Then what made him chase you like that?” 

“I don’t know, he’s a freak after all.” 

“Nino,” Sho stopped and turned around to face the young boy, “Don’t tell a lie, you took that watch.” 

Nino sighed irritably as he took an old watch from his pocket. It seemed that Matsumoto cherished it with all his life, Sho thought as he took it and observed it. For him, it wasn’t special; just an old and worn out watch.

“I’ll return it to him,” Sho said while pocketing the watch. “You come with me and apologize.” 

“What?” Nino rolled his eyes unpleasantly. “I won’t do that.” 

“I’ll report it to Ohno san then,” Sho said plainly. “He hates thieves.” 

“He gave me his hat when I stole it from him,” Nino said with a rather angry tone. “Ohno san never gets angry at me, he likes me.” 

“That’s because you give him your ass,” Sho said and soon he regretted it as he saw Nino’s eyes were glistening. 

“If you just want to humiliate me, why did you come?” he sobbed. 

Sho closed his eyes, feeling so guilty, he leaned closer to the boy and pulled him into a hug, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.” If Nino told Ohno about what he had said, would the man fire him? He couldn’t help his jealousy towards Ohno for having Nino and all he could do was watch in silence. He concluded that he liked Nino; putting aside the fact that he was ten years younger than him and the other fact that he was Ohno’s pet. 

“I’m sorry,” he said again. 

Nino cried on his chest, but he didn’t say anything. Sho led him towards the car and made sure Nino had already fastened his seatbelt before driving him home. The night was warm enough and the sky was clear that he could see the stars blinking at the far side of the horizon. Nino’s head fell to his side as he began to sleep a few minutes later.

Sho had visited Nino’s place once and he tried to remember where it was as he drove his car slowly at the neighborhood. He shook the kid’s shoulder as they reached the front gate. 

“Nino, we’re here,” he whispered. 

Nino groaned, but he reluctantly opened his eyes. Sho could lift him to his room, but he didn’t know which number was Nino’s and taking him to his apartment wasn’t an option. He plopped his head to the seat and watched as Nino’s chest rose and fell with the rhythm of his breaths. He glanced at his watch; it was almost 1 am and he had no choice but to sleep here in the car. He opened his jacket and covered Nino’s body with it.

Sho pulled the lever on the side of the passenger seat and pushed down the backrest, so Nino could sleep more comfortably. His eyes scanned the young face before him; Nino’s skin was fair and smooth and he was still a 17-year-old innocent boy. Sho gulped, he couldn’t fall in love with this boy; it was so stupid, yet he couldn’t get Nino out off his head.

He gently brushed Nino’s hair and hummed a song as if cuddling a baby; he leaned closer and kissed the boy’s lips. It felt perfect, as beautiful as a first kiss, but he knew it was wrong. He pulled aside and buried his face into his palms; he was clever enough to manage a museum and galleries but stupid enough to manage his own heart. 

***   
The museum was closed the next day after the party, but Sho came there after taking care of Nino. The boy was still angry at him, he didn’t speak much and thanked Sho reluctantly before slamming the door shut in front of his nose. 

He came there to finish a few delayed matters; Ohno hadn’t replied to his email which was a little bit weird; knowing that his precious jar was broken. He tried to call his phone, but Ohno didn’t pick it up. Irritated, Sho decided to return to his work, but he couldn’t concentrate. Nino’s face from last night haunted him. He had said something very rude to the boy and he didn’t apologize properly to him. 

He should have briefed the boy for stealing Matsumoto’s watch, but he didn’t feel any empathy for that man. There was an unexplainable dislike when he saw that handsome face; he didn’t know where it came from but it was just there. 

There was somebody at the corridor; Sho rose off of his seat and opened the door. Aiba walked further while humming a song. Sho fixed his gaze to the tall man. What was he doing here on an off day?

Sho thought that he would not be able to work today, so he decided to give up and followed Aiba’s steps along the corridor. 

“Sakurai san?” Aiba lifted his eyebrows as he spotted Sho behind him. 

“I’m here to check something,” Sho said to answer Aiba’s unspoken question. “You?” 

“Oh, I have to meet somebody from the event organizer. She said she would be here around lunch.”

Sho nodded. “Maybe we can have some coffee right after, I’m free today. What do you say?” 

Aiba looked at him, puzzled, but he nodded almost immediately. Sho could see him blushing hard. 

Ohno had taught him not to have any affairs with subordinates, but it didn’t mean he could practice it perfectly. He had slept with his former secretary; it was his way to unleash the stress feeling or to push away his loneliness. Now, he needed it to distract himself from the puzzle in his own mind – the confusion he felt for Nino and the realization that he couldn’t do something about it. 

Aiba – of course – was the last on his list, he barely knew the man, but when they went out together for coffee, Sho enjoyed his company. 

He had just realized that Aiba had a nice figure; he was tall and slim and his smiling face was too bright. Aiba was shy at first, but as the time went by, they could talk casually like friends. The guy told him about many things, mostly about what happened in the museum and he admitted his admiration to him without hesitation. Sho let the guy talk; it wasn’t that he needed a company, what he really needed is a distraction from his own thoughts.   
*** 

For Ohno, Nino was like a little brother who shared the same pain. After the hat-stealing incident, he tried to meet the boy again by visiting him at his place. Nino didn’t show any signs of being frightened, unlike the other people he met before. He knew his gray left eye looked strange and perhaps other people might have thought that he was a sorcerer or something. Nevertheless, Nino welcomed him warmly and talked to him as if they have known each other for a long time.

He could tell Nino everything; he was the only one person beside Sho who knew that he was the owner of Lar’t de La vie Museum and it didn’t bother him at all. Nino could have done something to get money off of him, but the boy didn’t. He just asked about a part-time job to pay for his baseball uniform and Ohno had channels to help him. 

He told Sho to contact the boy and meet him at a certain hotel where he could do his job. Sho, of course never knew the details; he just did as he was told and he didn’t have any guts to ask anything. Ohno wished he could talk with Sho about their school days, but he couldn’t bring himself to that conversation. 

It had been seven years since he graduated high school and now was the right time to reunite again with his first love – Jun. Ohno finally was able to name Jun as his first love as he grew older. Putting aside the fact that Jun probably never knew him. Even so, his feelings for the younger never changed. He could stare at Jun’s sketches for hours, imagining that he was real. When he did his part time job in those illicit love hotels, he always told himself that he did it to train himself in order to do it with Jun someday.

***  
“Are you free tonight?” Sho murmured to Aiba as they walked out from the coffee shop. 

“Yes, Sakurai san,” He answered awkwardly. 

“Call me Sho,” he smiled as he saw how Aiba’s face turned into a surprised expression. 

“Call me Sho,” he smiled when he saw that Aiba was surprised.

He knew he would regret it; it was a kind of abusive of power. Aiba was a total innocent who became his victim, but he didn’t question when Sho booked a hotel room for both of them. He followed Sho in silence, trying to act natural, even though Sho knew he must be so nervous because that was exactly what he felt right now.

He knew he would regret it; it was a kind of being abusive of his power. Aiba was totally innocent who became his victim, but he didn’t ask when Sho booked a hotel room for the both of them. He followed Sho in silence, trying to act natural, even though Sho knew he must be so nervous because that was exactly what he felt right now. 

Sho didn’t waste time, though, as soon as the door was firmly closed behind him, he took off his jacket and threw it to the sofa near them; he glanced at Aiba who seemed to avoid his gaze on purpose. He knew Aiba had a lot of questions that Sho didn’t know how to answer; he needed to unleash his frustration; right here and right now. 

Aiba looked down, fumbling with his fingers in confusion and embarrassment. 

“Get yourself naked, Aiba,” Sho approached the other man while unbuttoning his own shirt. 

“Sakurai, Sho-san, are we going to…?” Aiba tried to ask, but Sho lost his temper already.

“Strip the fuck off or I’ll fire you first thing tomorrow morning, do you get that?” Sho said nonchalantly, pulling off his pants.

Aiba’s fingers moved to his cardigan and took it off in slow motion. Sho leaned to him and helped him undo his inner shirt and belt. He took in the figure in front of him. Aiba’s body was well-built with a wide birthmark on his left shoulder. His stomach had a perfect six-pack and Sho could not stop but lay his hand on it and caress it with lust. 

“You are not allowed to say anything,” Sho said as he made both of them naked. He pushed Aiba to the bed and towered him. He knew his erection couldn’t wait any longer; he grabbed the lube on the side table, coating his fingers with it.

Aiba tried to close his legs together, but Sho was stronger than him; he held one of the long legs with his shoulder while his other hand found Aiba’s hole easily. He knew what he was doing right now could be considered as rape, but he needed it. He needed to get off Nino’s shadow; running away from the imagination he shouldn’t even consider. 

Sho didn’t even realize he already had his finger plugged into Aiba’s hole. Aiba gripped the sheets with both of his hands and the view of him lying naked, powerless below him turned Sho on even harder. He pulled his fingers out and positioned himself in front of Aiba’s twitching hole and with one thrust; he snapped his hips forward, burying himself in one shot into Aiba’s warm opening. He moved his hips slowly, watching Aiba’s expression whose eyes were half-opened. His lips twisted in a soft groan between pain and pleasure. He moved his hand to Aiba’s neck and choked him, but wasn’t hard enough to make him breathless. He lowered his head to his subordinate but…

His phone rang at the wrong time, and from the ringtone he set up, he knew it was Ohno. Sho bit his lower lip; he had to pick that damn phone, even though the situation was too delightful to be paused. He half-heartedly pulled himself away from the warmth of Aiba’s body and slid out the phone from the pocket on his jacket.

“Sho, I have just read your message,” Ohno said on the other line. 

“Ohno san,” he mentioned the boss’ name, not knowing how to arrange his words, “about the jar,” he began. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Ohno cut him, “It was an accident.” 

“How about Matsumoto?” 

“Handle him with care,” Ohno’s tone turned softer, “I trust you, Sho. Thanks for your hard work.” 

“Thanks, Ohno san,” Sho remembered Nino all of a sudden, “I have taken care of Nino, he’s safe and sound in his place.” 

“Thanks,” Ohno said. “Have a good night then.” 

Ohno hung up; Sho threw his phone to the bundle of his clothes and returned to Aiba who waited for him with a rather begging expression. 

He wasted no time. He tugged Aiba’s hair a little bit roughly and made him kneel in front of him and let him take him orally since his erection went limp after talking with his boss. As his sex hardened once more and became lubricated, Sho inserted it inside Aiba’s waiting hole and moved faster this time.

Aiba had gotten rid of his embarrassment as he moaned loudly and somehow Sho wished it was Nino. But who he was kidding? Aiba was a total opposite from that kid, both in body and age.

Aiba lifted his head and circled Sho’s neck with both of his hands. He screamed to his ears as he reached his peak; Sho followed after several more thrusts. 

“No kissing. This is just sex; we’re not lovers,” Sho said, pulling himself from Aiba, but he stayed in the same position for a good two minutes.

Aiba’s face was unreadable when they finished; he was unmoving and staring at the ceiling with a blank face. Sho rolled aside and arranged his breaths; he got a hold on himself a few minutes later and tried to speak to the man beside him. 

“Aiba san, I’m sorry,” he muttered. 

Aiba didn’t say anything, he buried his head to the crook of Sho’s neck and this time, Sho let him. He ran his fingers to brush Aiba’s hair; what the hell he was doing, he had no right to do this to anyone. Aiba could sue him for raping him. 

“Just let me hold you for a little bit longer,” Aiba whispered and tightened his embrace to his chest. 

Sho closed his eyes; Nino’s face still swam in his brain, but when he fell asleep, he didn’t dream about him. Aiba snuggled to him all night, but when Sho woke up the next day, he had already left the hotel. Sho could still feel his warmth on his right side; unconsciously, he brushed his finger to the bed sheet. He was a moron, and maybe that was why Ohno didn’t want to have sex with him. 

***  
Nino had never called Ohno directly, even though he knew his phone number. But, this evening, he called. Ohno was giving the last touches on his painting when his phone rang. He usually ignored the phone calls when he was in the middle of painting, but he took the smart phone from his side table and placed it on his ear after checking who the caller was. 

“Hi, Nino,” he said. 

“Ohno kun,” the boy seemed to hesitate in answering. “Where are you now?” 

“I’m in my apartment.” 

“I need help,” Nino’s voice was so tiny that Ohno had to press the phone to his ear. 

“What happened?”

Someone grabbed the phone and yelled to the speaker, “Whoever you are, get this little thief out of my store and pay for what he took or I’ll bring him to the police.” 

Ohno put away his phone; it was a woman’s voice. She mentioned the address of the store and gave him an hour to pick Nino up and be responsible for what he had done. Ohno glanced at the clock on the wall, rose off of his chair and washed off the paint on his hands before putting on his jacket. He took a cab to the store which was located 30 minutes away from his apartment. 

He slid out his phone from his pocket and opened the gallery; he looked at a photo of Jun’s sleeping face. He smiled, recalling the night they had spent together, he could still taste Jun’s lips on his. It had been ten years since he last saw Jun, the man had changed into a pretty swan, more than what Ohno could have imagined. He almost lost control that night, but he reminded himself that for Jun, he was a total stranger.

It was by coincidence that Sho found him an apartment which located one floor above Jun’s place. He walked Jun to his house that morning, in silence, because he refused to answer the man’s questions. What would he say to Jun? That he was a secret admirer who tailed him from a distance during their high school era? It would be much too creepy.

‘You changed’ 

He could still imagine Sho speaking those words to him. He wanted to change; it had been so long since he stayed in the darkness, barricading himself from light and warmth. 

“We’re here, Sir,” the driver said. 

Ohno handed him the money and told him to keep the change. He walked towards an accessories shop across the street, he barely noticed this shop; it was located between a karaoke club and an underwear boutique. He entered and asked the security where the stock room was. 

The old man looked at him with suspicion; his eyes stopped at Ohno’s left eye and he shivered without trying to hide it. Ohno had no time to be offended by his behavior; he followed the man’s steps towards the back part of the shop.   
Nino was sitting in front of a fierce woman; he was facing down, looking so troubled. The woman lifted her head at Ohno as he entered the room. The room was full of plastic trash and the smell was enough to kill all the bugs. Ohno winced from the humidity of the room and stepped to Nino’s side. 

“What’s your connection with this illicit thief?” she asked. 

“He’s my brother,” Ohno answered briefly. The woman looked at both of them, as if trying to find any resemblances. 

“He tried to steal this stuff from my store,” she pointed to a key holder and a pouch. 

Ohno took the key holder and observed it, “Nino, do you really want them?” he asked. 

Nino hesitated for a moment and shook his head. 

“Then why did he take them?” the woman asked with a flicker of anger in her eyes. 

“He suffers from kleptomania,” Ohno answered the woman. “I’ll buy all your key holders and pouches, how much do they cost?” 

“No, that’s not what I want,” the woman glared at Nino, “I want you to teach him how to behave.” 

Ohno didn’t know how it started, but when the woman moved her sight to him, he felt the urge to control her. His brain released orders through his blind left eye and transferred to the angry woman whose eyes went blank all of a sudden. 

“If you want to buy them, Sir, please take a look at my shop,” she said, unfocused. She left the room and weird silence hung in that humid room. 

Ohno blinked and shook his head; he felt cold sweat run through his spine. His body trembled and he leaned on the table to support his balance; Nino immediately rose from the chair and helped him sit down. 

“Ohno kun, are you okay?” Nino asked warily. 

“I’m okay,” Ohno closed his eyes to get a hold on himself. It had been ten years; he thought whatever dwelled inside his body was gone forever, but he was wrong. It slept inside him for all of these years; the uninvited memories rushed to his head: the swimming pool, the torn-out sketch, the littered locker, a boy who ran away with all his might. 

A great headache attacked him; he wanted to throw up, he clung to Nino’s arm and told the boy to go home, but the words won’t form in his mouth. 

“Ohno kun,” Nino was in panic as he began to throw up on the floor. It couldn’t be; he thought he was free.   
He grabbed his phone and dialed Sho’s number as fast as he could. 

“Sho, get me now at Asa Accessories Shop.”


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a long time since Jun made cake; it was difficult to find the right timing to do it and he was a moody person. He didn’t feel like going somewhere today, the light headache still remained, but it didn’t bother him at all. He mixed the eggs and powder in a big bowl and watched the mixer run; his lips formed a smile, even though he didn’t know what he was smiling for. 

He recalled how Ohno’s hand fit perfectly around his that morning, two days ago. He could still feel the warmth that lingered and it reached his heart. He even wanted to hold those hands for the entire day, and even asked Ohno not to leave. He didn’t know where those words came from; however, Ohno’s features were so familiar, and he felt that he needed to get closer to him before he disappeared again.

It was so awkward for Jun when Ohno walked him to his apartment which was located just downstairs from Ohno’s apartment. So, that’s why I thought I was waking up inside my house, Jun mused.

“I’ve just moved here,” Ohno said as they walked together along the corridor, heading toward Jun’s door. “We can visit each other then,” he continued. Exactly just like what Jun wanted to hear. As they got near, he imagined Ohno pushing him to the wall, placing both of his hands on his sides and forcing a kiss on his lips. But it never happened, that man left while wishing him a good day. 

“Ohno Satoshi…” he mentioned the name over and over, as if it would lead him into something. 

He finished the batter and started to pour them to the cake container; he put it in the oven and set the timer before preparing the additional cream for the flavor. 

Fox had been looking at him for all the time, as if he understood there was something wrong with him. 

“I’m fine, Fox,” Jun stated. The cat meowed and licked his front leg then left him, and walked towards the sofa. 

He just switched off the oven when he heard a knock on his door. It was a Sunday and nobody worked on a Sunday to check on broken pipes or to repair a broken air conditioner. He guessed that that person had mistaken Jun’s place as their friends or… maybe, he wished, that it was Ohno who wanted to see him again. As his thoughts were being filled by what ifs, he took off his gloves and walked to check who his visitor was. He was taken aback when he saw that, as he looked through the peephole, behind his door was Aiba.

He and Aiba couldn’t be called as friends, they were only workmates and seeing him in front of his doorstep was kind of surprising. 

“Aiba san?” 

Aiba grinned and locked his fingers together; he looked as confused as Jun did. He opened the door wider and gestured for the guy to come in. Aiba hesitated for a moment before following him in; it had been forever since Jun brought somebody to his house and he felt as if he broke his own rules.

“Your place is so cozy,” Aiba commented as they stepped towards the living room. 

“Thanks,” Jun said in return. “How did you find my address?” 

“From the database,” Aiba offered an apologetic smile. “There’s something I want to discuss with you.” 

“Is it about work?” Jun asked while pulling out the cake from the oven. The smell filled the room; it brought a pleasant atmosphere. It even woke Fox up from his nap, he smelled the air and he meowed hopefully. 

“You bake?” Aiba rose from his seat, lifting Fox with him as he joined Jun in the kitchen. It gave him more time to answer Jun’s question. 

“Want to try?” Jun gestured for the man to take a bite of the newly baked cake, still wishing it was Ohno who knocked on his door and had Fox in his arms. 

Jun handed Aiba a fork and gave him a slice. After eating it, Aiba gave Jun a thumb up. Fox struggled to break free from Aiba’s hand, meowed as he asked for his part. Jun stifled a chuckle as he gave the cat a bite and ate the rest. He nodded in approval; it was too sweet but not bad.

“Want some coffee?” Jun asked Aiba as he took out two cups from the kitchen cabinet. Aiba accepted his offer as he returned to his seat; praising the cake once more. As he boiled water and prepared coffee, Jun thought about Ohno’s Sunday mornings. Did he paint all day? Did he go out and meet some friends? Did he go to the bowling site alone? 

“What do you want to discuss with me?” Jun asked as they sat across from each other at the dining table. 

Aiba gripped the cup stronger than needed, he lifted his face to meet Jun’s gaze; he opened his mouth and closed it again. 

“Do you remember what we talked about before the party?” 

Jun searched at the back of his mind: they talked about the director, the owner of the museum and about Nino whom Jun saw stealing something at the stationery section. His stomach clenched when he remembered that kid; he hadn’t gotten any emails from Sakurai for his punishment.

“We talked about many things,” Jun said while sipping the coffee, “our director, that bloody Sakurai san, the museum owner that remains mysterious…” 

“Have you heard the man named Ohno Satoshi?” Aiba cut him. 

“What’s with him? I met him two days ago at the party and…” he didn’t continue what happened next; he got drunk, and found himself on Ohno’s bed.

“Sakurai san mentioned his name on the phone and talked to him with full respect,” Aiba said, he looked at the cake, as if trying to find something in it, “I think they have some connection.” 

“Sakurai san? Did you overhear their conversation at the party?” Jun confirmed. 

“No,” Aiba shook his head, avoiding Jun’s gaze almost immediately. “I heard them talking by coincidence.” 

Jun felt discomfort as Aiba mentioned Sakurai’s name. He remembered how Sakurai’s eyes stared at him with weird coldness when they sat face to face inside his office. He still smelled something fishy about that director, his connection with Nino, and if Aiba was right, he also had something with Ohno. He hoped it wasn’t something romantic. 

“Have you ever thought that maybe the owner of the museum is someone ordinary? Even hiding himself on purpose?” Aiba said, as if talking to no one. 

“What do you mean?” Jun asked, even though he knew what Aiba would say. 

“That Ohno Satoshi? Isn’t he suspicious?” 

“As far as I remember, our owner’s name is Enomoto Kei,” Jun said, sipping his coffee. “The last time I checked on the website, he’s still Enomoto Kei.” 

“How do you know that it’s his real name?” Aiba looked at his with a detective-like gaze which Jun did not like. He averted his gaze to the trees outside the window. Unknown to Jun and Aiba, Ohno was in his apartment upstairs, painting abstract which attracted Jun in its strange way.

“It’s none of our concern if he wants to fake his name,” Jun answered. He took a look on Aiba’s face, he caught a glimpse of anxiety on Aiba’s expression and he had just realized that there was something on his neck. It was barely seen, but Jun swore that he saw finger marks there. Aiba seemed to realize his gaze as he hid it quickly.

“Jun,” Aiba bit his lower lip, he hesitated for a moment, “I think I want to quit L’art de La Vie.” 

Jun did not know how to respond to Aiba’s statement. They just held a party to launch the gallery and Aiba not once mentioned that he hated his job. He was the most enthusiastic person Jun had ever met; it did not make sense to Jun that he wanted to quit.

They stopped talking about work. Aiba played with Fox while Jun washed the dishes. Jun had just thought that this Sunday would go as peaceful as it could be, when he heard someone groan in pain outside. 

“It’s the wrong floor, we need to go upstairs,” he heard a familiar voice. 

“He can’t make it,” another voice answered and Jun knew it as well. 

Jun ran to the door before analyzing further; he turned the knob and pulled it open. He found three men on the corridor and even though he had too many questions to be answered, he pushed those questions aside. Ohno was in the center, he looked like someone dying. Sakurai and Nino were on his each side, supporting him, but Ohno seemed to lose all his power; his eyes were shut tightly, he released a last groan and went limp. 

“Let me help,” Jun approached them and assisted them to keep Ohno off the ground. He heard Aiba followed behind and joined them without saying a word. “We can bring him to my room.” 

None of them spoke when they lay Ohno down on Jun’s bed. Jun initiated to call a doctor but Sakurai said no.   
“He doesn’t need any doctors,” he said coldly. 

“He’s dying, can’t you see that?” Jun looked to the other man’s eyes. He could be his boss, but he didn’t really care about it right now. He felt something twinge inside his stomach; what kind of connection did Sakurai have with Ohno? 

Ohno might be no one to Jun, but he didn’t want something bad to happen to this man either. Aiba had moved to the sofa, and stayed silent. Nino was beside him, for the first time Jun saw a mourning expression on that kid’s face. Somehow he wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be okay, but he had some kind of a hunch that it was Nino’s fault. 

“He only needs to lay down a few hours,” Sakurai explained to Jun with an air of arrogance. His eyes roamed around; Jun couldn’t read his expression clearly. It was a mixture between mocking and wondering. Fox meowed once and walked closer to Sakurai. It tilted his head as if reading Sakurai’s face. He meowed again after a minute or so and jumped on the bed where Ohno laid; cozying up beside the man.

Jun watched the cat; was it possible that Fox knew he had some feeling towards Ohno? But it was something stupid to think of; he left the director and approached Aiba and Nino who were sitting in the sofa. 

The kid’s eyes were bloodshot; clearly, he’d been crying. And since nobody wanted to explain what had happened, Jun didn’t pry. He joined them all in silence because apparently, that was the only thing they could do for now.

Sakurai stood still beside the bed; his hands locked. Aiba looked down at the floor; Jun couldn’t see his face and Nino began to sob again. 

“It was my fault,” he said, breaking the silence. “I’m sorry,” his lips trembled as he tried to hold his tears. He slid out something from his pocket and gave it to Jun. “Your watch,” he said. 

Jun took it and looked at Nino’s face; he forgot how he it felt to be seventeen, but it was a hard age. He pitied this kid and felt guilty for hating him, he leaned closer to the young boy, “Thank you,” he said. 

“Do you know Ohno san?” Jun asked. 

“He’s my savior,” Nino said, but he didn’t provide any answers other than that. 

The kid began to hide his face onto his palms, sobbing quietly. Jun tried to match these three people, Sho and Nino were friends or maybe something else that he didn’t want to think of, and Ohno, what was the connection he had with both of them? 

“Nino, let’s go,” Sakurai approached Nino and held his wrist, dragging him without waiting for his response. 

Nino stood up and trailed Sakurai, even though he did it half-heartedly. They stepped towards the door; somehow they looked like best friends, going out to have something fun. 

“Wait, what should I do with him?” Jun chased them. Sakurai turned around; he glanced at Ohno’s sleeping face.   
“He’ll be fine, you don’t need to do anything other than lending him your bed,” the man spoke quickly, he looked briefly at Aiba and turned towards the door, his hand still gripped Nino’s wrist. 

The kid looked at Jun for the last time; his eyes signed guilt. He followed Sakurai towards the corridor, trailing behind like a loyal dog.   
***   
Ohno wanted to believe that everything that happened was an accident. That Toma’s death had nothing to do with him. That he was at the wrong place, at the wrong time; however, the nightmares that he had after that particular day never stopped haunting him: the swimming pool, the empty corridor, Toma’s lifeless body…

He ran and ran, trying to forget what had happened. But he couldn’t, he wanted to kill himself for the first time in his life, even though he never succeed to do so. He didn’t go to school for a week after the incident and buried himself under the covers, as if hiding himself from Toma’s ghost. Nevertheless, it wasn’t the exact thing he wanted to hide from, it was himself. There was some kind of monster inside him, only that he didn’t know it. He touched his left lid and wondered whether the monster was hiding there. Nothing happened. His left eye was just as blind as usual; there wasn’t anything special about it, except bringing him to misery. 

Many years after that day; the same thing never happened again – something which involved his left eye. Everything was as normal as it could be and he had been waiting for too long to look for Jun again, but the guy appeared at his own will. He applied for the job at the museum, saying that he wanted to work there because he liked art, even though that was not the real reason. Jun wanted to avoid people; just like Ohno, and Toma’s death must have affected him as much as it affected Ohno. Did Jun know about the incident? Did he work at the museum to get revenge? Or, did he simply not know a thing, an innocent man who tried to get away from his loneliness?  
*** 

Aiba had left around two hours ago and Jun was totally alone with Ohno. The man was still in deep sleep; he showed no signs of waking up. Fox crouched at the edge of the bed, right next to Ohno’s foot, he looked like a weird dog, protecting his master, ignoring the fact that he was a cat and Jun was his real master. 

Jun gave up watching and decided to cook for dinner. He tried to not think about Ohno’s presence in his bed. He made simple curry rice for two persons, hoping that Ohno would wake up at dinner time and join him to eat together. However, what kind of conversation would they have? 

‘Hey. You’re awake finally. I made some curry rice for dinner.’

It sounded so cheesy, even in his head. Jun brought plates to the dining table, prepared green tea and waited. He should have called an ambulance and brought Ohno to the hospital, but Ohno seemed only to be sleeping and there was nothing wrong with him, regardless the groan he released at the corridor. 

Fox meowed as if sensing something and Jun heard movements from his bedroom. He rose from his seat and approached Ohno who was already standing tall; he looked at Jun with wide opened eyes. His left eye seemed to see something beyond him, and without any warning, Ohno dashed to him and hugged him tight. 

Jun never expected this; he froze and let Ohno embrace him, like a lost child who was looking for protection. Jun moved his hand to Ohno’s back and rubbed it softly, he smelled Ohno’s scent which was surprisingly pleasant (he didn’t remember it since the last time they touched, he was too drunk).

“Ohno san…” he called the man. 

“Just let me,” Ohno answered, almost in whisper. 

They stayed like that for minutes until Ohno released him and murmured apologies.He rejected dinner and walked towards the door without wasting any time, and did not even glance and Jun's disappointed face. 

Jun stood behind the closed door, hoping that Ohno would come back and say that he changed his mind. The man lived upstairs, Jun could chase him and insist for him to stay, but he had no rights to do so. He ignored the curry and decided to go outside; maybe finding some stress reliever wasn't a bad idea.   
***   
Jun decided to go to the game center nearby and sat down at one of the pachinko machines. He wasn’t aware of the time since the place was still crowded. Feeling the watch on his wrist made him feel relieved. He played with the machine without giving much concentration. Various sounds reached his ears as he competed with the old man beside him. The noise somehow made him feel more alive. 

“It’s rare to see somebody like you here.” 

Jun peeked at his right and saw Nino. He wasn’t sure at first because the kid’s face was half-hidden in the hood of his jacket.

“Nino…”

“Is he okay?” he asked, referring to Ohno. 

“He’s more than okay,” Jun answered. He still couldn’t guess what kind of connection Nino had with Ohno or Sakurai. “Are you friends?” he asked, not knowing how to hide his curiosity. 

“Do you really want to know?” Nino murmured behind his hood. “I guess that you have some feelings for him.” 

“That’s not it…”

“He’s my savior,” Nino cut him, “I would do anything to make him fall in love with me,” he said as he lifted his head to meet Jun’s gaze. “Just kidding, he only considers me as his brother, nothing more.” 

Jun gulped, Nino’s naked photos flashed in his mind, did Ohno take those photos? But that was not something brothers did. 

“You like him, don’t you?” Nino asked when Jun didn’t give any answers. 

He kept silent, feeling so miserable that a seventeen-year-old kid could guess what was in his mind correctly. 

“Sorry for taking your watch,” the kid murmured. “Ohno san collapsed at the supermarket; he was there to pay for the things I stole,” Nino continued, “I have kleptomania.”

Jun rose from his seat and held Nino’s elbow, “Follow me,” he said.   
Nino said nothing as they walked side by side, the night was warm, and they could see the stars blinking on the dark sky.

“Where are we going?” the kid asked for the first time. 

“I just realized that I haven’t eaten,” Jun answered, smiling at the shorter. “Where is Sakurai san?”

“I escaped from him,” Nino shrugged. “He always treats me like I am something fragile, it bothers me.” 

Jun smiled; he didn’t know this kid that much and he couldn’t tell whether he was telling the truth or the other way around. This kid – how should he put it – had something that could attract people. Jun remembered the first time he saw him at the stationery section; he had an urge to talk to him, and it bothered him.

They stopped by at a small ramen restaurant on the corner of the street. Nino ate quickly as if he hadn’t eaten for days and for the first time, Jun saw an innocent expression and it made him look cute. 

“You’ll be working at the museum, right?” Jun opened the conversation. 

Nino nodded. 

“You can ask me if you have any problem,' Jun said sincerely. 

Nino looked at him long enough, “Aren’t you worried that I will steal your things again?”

Jun shook his head, “I don’t have anything except this watch that is worth stealing.” 

Nino chuckled silently and finished his ramen. 

Jun went home with a lighter heart; it was weird that he felt happy when he talked with Nino. Even though the kid didn’t reveal anything about his relationship with Sakurai or Ohno, he could sense that Nino was keeping something, but it didn’t really matter now. 

He opened his door and found Fox was waiting for him.

“I’m home,” he said as he lifted the cat to his arms, he had just realized that he was sleepy.


	8. Chapter 8

Jun was rechecking the data on his clipboard when Aiba knocked on the door, the guy entered and sat across from him; his face forming an unusual expression. 

“Matsujun, I think I’m in love,” he said precisely. 

Jun stopped his movement; pressing his pencil onto the clipboard to mark it. He lifted his head to look at Aiba. What made this guy think that he was the right person to run to with his personal matter? They probably talked between lunch times, but the topic was mostly about work; Jun avoided personal problems at the most and he was always the one who listened to Aiba’s blabbering. 

Aiba waited for Jun to respond, but the latter kept on staring at the tall guy. 

“I’m in love, with Sakurai san,” he stated. 

Jun wanted to say ‘that is none of my damn business,’ but he gulped down his thought. He still felt uneasy with that Sakurai guy and from the look the director gave him; he could tell that Sakurai felt the same way about him. 

“That’s news for me,” Jun smiled at his colleague and set the clipboard on his desk. “Tabe chan got a rival now,” he said, trying not to sound sarcastic. 

“I heard that he will be working here from now on, this museum will be the main office,” Aiba said with a tone of happiness on his voice. 

“That’s great,” Jun gave a brief comment. He remembered Ohno; they never crossed paths since the happening two weeks ago. Was Ohno alright? Did he move out? Did he have a serious illness and decide to leave for medication somewhere far away? He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Nino, that kid must have known something about Ohno. 

“I will talk to him at lunch time,” Aiba beamed. He glanced at his watch and stood up. “The students from Hamamatsu will be here in a moment, I gotta go,” he hurried towards the door and closed it. 

Jun returned to the clipboard, signed it with his pencil, and as he finished the clock had pointed to 12. He rose, grabbing his lunch box and headed outside. He didn’t feel like eating inside the museum, so he went for a walk to the nearest park. Today must be one of the hottest days in summer; he walked through the main lobby and had to narrow his eyes as the sunlight blinded him. 

He sat down on the grass under a big tree and opened his lunch box, the breeze seemed reluctant to blow. He took off his eyeglasses and set it on his pocket. 

“May I join you?” 

Jun tilted his head and saw Nino’s figure; the kid brought a plastic bag in his hand, a sign of Lawson convenient store decorated it. 

“Sure,” Jun nodded. 

“Your friend is a talk-active person,” Nino said as he slumped down beside him, “Aiba san,” he added. 

“He’s that kind of person,” Jun answered. 

“I thought that Sho kun is the worst,” Nino shrugged. He slid out a small box of onigiri from the plastic bag and took a bite.

“How you and Sakurai san got to know each other?” Jun asked without thinking further. He wanted to know because of the fact that Nino kept on addressing Sakurai as ‘Sho kun’ and his lack of respect that he always showed to the director. 

“He has a crush on me,” Nino answered, even though it didn’t explain anything. “That’s how we got to know each other,” he continued. 

Jun assumed that this kid was not telling him the whole truth; though, maybe the part of Sakurai had a crush on him wasn’t a lie. 

“There’s someone who wants to meet you,” Nino said when Jun turned quite. “He’ll be here in a moment.” 

As they continued eating in silence, Jun stole a glance once in a while at Nino. The boy was left-handed and his appearance was pleasant. Jun wasn’t sure that he looked that good when he was 17. If Sakurai had a crush on him, Jun couldn’t blame him for that. Nino’s look was the one to be blamed.

As they collected the trash after they finished their lunch, Nino looked afar and smiled broadly. “He’s here,” he told Jun. 

Jun wore his eyeglasses and spotted Ohno; the man was walking towards them. He wore a nice white T-shirt above his jeans, and his usual baseball cap covered his head. 

“He said that he wants to visit the museum,” Nino murmured, “I guess that you need to guide him.” 

“That’s Aiba san’s task, not mine,” Jun said. Nino didn’t give any answers to that. 

When Ohno reached the tree where both of them were having lunch, he first looked at Nino. Both of them said nothing, but Jun could see that they communicated through their eyes where words were no longer needed; somehow he envied the connection Nino had with this guy. 

“Hi, Jun kun,” he greeted Jun awkwardly and Jun felt that his throat was constricted as if he had swollen his food without chewing it first. Ohno smiled at him. It was the first time for him to see him in broad daylight. Ohno’s skin was tanned, but it suited him well, and his gray left eye wasn’t clear behind the thick frame of his eyeglasses. 

“Ohno san,” Jun returned the greeting, “I’m glad that you’re alright,” he faced down shyly as he heard his own voice. It sounded like a worrying mother and cursed himself that he couldn’t get a grip from saying so. 

“Thanks,” Ohno said, “I’m sorry that I broke into your house just like that, right, Nino?” he turned his head at Nino. 

“Yes,” the boy nodded, “I’m going back now before Sho kun complains,” Nino said, he walked further from them, leaving a weird silence in the air. 

“I would love to visit the museum,” Ohno opened the conversation, “do you mind if I ask you to guide me around?” 

“No, I’ll try my best,” Jun nodded, he didn’t know what would Sakurai say if he found him at the corridor, doing Aiba’s task without consulting it first with him. 

He walked one step ahead of Ohno, feeling weird. Two weeks ago, Ohno had embraced him without any warning, but now the man behind him was no more than a stranger to him. He didn’t know what he exactly felt for this mysterious man, it was nearly like a crush. He rarely let his mind float like this. He was always careful with his feelings, but something in Ohno had weakened him. 

*** 

When Ohno told him that he had something to do with Toma’s death, Sho felt like ice had slipped through his chest. Sho coincidently read Ohno’s old note where he wrote Toma’s name. The incident happened around six months after Sho moved to another school. He didn’t ask how Ohno did that, if Ohno killed Toma in an ordinary way, the guy must have been arrested immediately, regardless that he was underage when it happened. 

‘I murdered him’ was written on the note. 

Sho was sure that the word ‘him’ referred to Toma since he had heard about the accident on the news. They mentioned about a young school boy who drowned in a swimming pool. 

“Sho, what are you doing?” 

Sho threw the notebook away as Ohno entered the room and he felt his body stiffened, there was a kind of power which prevent him from moving. He looked at Ohno and saw a light in his left eye; it blinded him and kept him unmoving. 

“I-I’m so-sorry,” Sho choked, trying to catch his breath. 

Ohno took the notebook and Sho could breathe normally again. He looked at Ohno’s figure, feeling a pang in his chest. What was that? Was that just his imagination or Ohno really possessed some kind of power? 

Ohno turned to him as if nothing happened, smiling slightly, “Let’s work,” he said casually. 

Sho knew that he never looked at Ohno as the same person since that day; he was scared to be precise. Ohno had an ability to kill someone just by glancing at them, that was frightening and it sounded like a mystery novel storyline, but that was real, even though Sho tried to ignore that fact. 

Nevertheless, what made Sho stayed loyal to Ohno wasn’t the fact that he was a murderer, but it was something else he couldn’t name.  
***   
Jun and Ohno sat across each other in a small restaurant near their apartment. Ohno stayed at the museum long enough until the closing time. Jun walked him around and explained the paintings and other artworks as best as he could, the only fact which disturbed him was Ohno chose to look at him instead of the paintings. He ensured himself that he wasn’t blushing; only that unpleasant sweat appeared. 

“Thanks for today,” Ohno opened the conversation, placing his fingers on Jun. 

“Don’t mention, it’s my job after all,” Jun said, he wanted to pull his hand away, but he couldn’t move a muscle. 

“I love painting,” Ohno said. “I paint to entertain myself and I can create my own world, every time I cross my brush over the canvas.” 

“Do you sell them?” Jun asked. He glanced at their intertwined hands; Ohno had squished his fingers harder than before. 

“Sometimes,” Ohno said. 

Silence fell between them; the dim light sent a pleasant atmosphere. Jun didn’t know who started first as they leaned to each other and their lips met. He felt warmth rush to his body; Ohno’s lips tasted the wine which they had just drunk. Jun placed his right hand on the back of Ohno’s head and pulled him closer as if it was the most natural thing to do. 

They pulled away, starring at each other and without any word; Ohno gripped his wrist and dragged him outside, heading to their apartment. They stormed to Jun’s room, closing the door behind them and Jun felt his knees weaken as Ohno leaned to him, cornering him on the wall and started kissing all over his face. He never imagined that they would go this far, but he had no regrets. He let Ohno unbutton his shirt, caressing his exposed skin with care; his left hand found its way to Jun’s jeans and took it off slowly. 

They moved to the couch where Ohno was on top of him. Jun could see that Ohno’s eyes were clouded and he was sure that he wasn’t even better. Their breaths united, just like their body, and Jun felt that he was flying. He didn’t know where it came from, but the memories of Toma rushed to his head like a sudden storm when he reached his peak. He could see Toma watching them making love on his couch from the corner of his eyes. He turned his head to make sure, but of course, Toma wasn’t there and never would be. He shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment. 

“Are you okay?” Ohno asked him. 

“Yeah, sorry,” he looked at the man’s face, he had fallen in love with this man and nothing could pull him away from that feeling. 

He took Ohno’s hand and squished it, “Do you love me?” he asked out of the blue, without even thinking what he said. 

Ohno didn’t answer, but he kissed Jun’s lips softly and as he finished, Jun felt his lids were too heavy to open. He saw a light on Ohno’s left eye, the blind one, but maybe he was just imagining it. He drowned into a deep sleep, a dreamless sleep. 

***   
The air conditioner was too cold, but Sho didn’t bother to raise the temperature. He lacked sleep these few nights; dark circles under his eyes could be seen clearly. He didn’t know what was bothering him that much; the workload wasn’t that heavy, the opening of the new gallery went as planned and the visitors in the museum increased rapidly. He couldn’t tell what made him so insecure. 

He flipped the pages of the report Aiba had written, he read them quickly and put it back on top of the other reports from the galleries. He took off his eyeglasses and rose off of the seat; he approached the abstract painting on his wall and looked at it intensely. Ohno gave this painting on the first day he started working here. 

“A present,” the man said. 

Sho closed his eyes and recalled that particular day; he didn’t understand what the meaning behind this painting was, but sometimes, he could see a man in this canvas – a man who was trapped between two high walls that he couldn’t climb nor escape. 

“Sho kun, can I come in?” 

Sho opened his eyes and turned towards the door where Nino’s head poked in. 

“Sure,” Sho sat on the couch and gestured for Nino to sit down too. “Are you done?” 

“Yeah,” Nino answered while taking the cushion onto his lap, he leaned his head to the couch and eyeing the ceiling.

“There are still two weeks before my summer holiday is over,” Nino mumbled. 

“The new semester will begin,” Sho said, trying hard not to stare at Nino’s face. He missed this boy like crazy and having him work here in the museum, didn’t mean that he could crush him anytime he wanted. He had a lot of work to do and must admit that he had been waiting for Nino to appear on his doorstep, telling Sho that he wanted some ice cream. 

“What will you do after high school?” Sho asked. 

“I don’t know,” Nino shrugged. “Ohno san keeps on telling me to look for a nice university to study in as if I had enough money to afford it.” 

Sho gulped, they hadn’t talked about Ohno since Nino was too angry when Sho said that he was only selling his ass to Ohno. Sho never knew the truth about what kind of work Nino used to do before agreeing to accept the part time job here in the museum. He glanced at the boy who played with the cushion on his lap; somehow it made his heart beat faster. The taste of Nino’s lips when Sho stole a kiss from him when he was asleep still remained; he wondered whether it was okay for him to kiss this kid for real? Would Nino hate him for that? But, if he didn’t do it now, Nino would leave within a short time and perhaps they wouldn’t meet each other again. The thoughts brought an unpleasant sensation into his stomach; he couldn’t imagine how it felt like if Nino wasn’t around anymore. 

“Nino…” he said hesitantly. 

The boy lifted his head to meet Sho’s gaze, Sho moved to the couch where Nino was sitting and without thinking further, he kissed the boy’s lips. It tasted as sweet as before, he felt the grip on his chest had been loosened when his lips touched Nino’s. 

Nino froze, but he didn’t push Sho away. He let Sho kiss him deeper, let Sho feel that he was going to explode. But it didn’t last long as he heard the door slam shut (Nino forgot to close it). Both of them turned towards the door and Sho saw a silhouette of a man, walking further from the room. 

“Aiba san,” Nino whispered. 

Sho rose abruptly and massaged his temple; he was confused by what he had done. He didn’t know what to say to Nino. 

“I know,” Nino said after some time. “Don’t say something if it’s too hard for you.” 

“But…” Sho said. Nino walked towards the door and turned at him, his expression was unreadable. He left Sho inside the cold room, without knowing what to do. He sat down back and drowned his face onto his palms. It felt so wrong to love Nino, he had broken the unseen rules that Ohno made for them and Ohno would know it.   
And Aiba…

What he had done to Aiba was wrong, he was confused that night and needed someone to unleash his stress. He didn’t know how to face that man again, he felt the worst. He grabbed the car key and dashed outside; he needed to see Ohno for whatever reason, even the silliest one. 

***   
Nino always considered him as his savior, even though Ohno didn’t want the kid to think about him that way. He wasn’t a savior to anyone; he was just a person with an empty heart; a murderer. 

Ohno was daydreaming at his veranda when Nino stormed into his apartment. He looked like he was lost. He ran to Ohno and stood before him, biting his lower lip. 

“Did he do something to you?” Ohno asked. 

Nino knelt and laid his head on Ohno’s lap, crying silently. Ohno brushed the boy’s head, calming him down. He knew that Sho would fall in love with Nino sooner or later, he had read it, but he didn’t try to prevent it from happening. He never told Sho the truth about Nino’s work; he wanted Sho to think that Nino was a prostitute in order to make him hesitate to put a liking on the boy. 

He remembered the day when he offered Nino a job in the museum. 

“I can only work at night,” Nino shrugged. 

With that condition, the only job Nino could get was in a cheap hotel which provided massage service. He would go from door to door, giving massage to the guests. The hotel owner was Ohno’s friend, and he had guaranteed that nobody would lay a hand on that kid. He loved Nino as his own sibling; even though he knew that Nino expected something else between them. 

The naked photos which Nino cherished were taken at a hot spring inn. He insisted Ohno to take them on his birthday and he had requested to have sex with him, but the boy fell asleep as soon as the clock pointed to 11 pm. 

He felt guilty that he never revealed the truth to Sho; his most loyal person. He didn’t know how Sho saw him now, a cold heartless man, a liar, or even a murderer since he was the only one who knew what he had done to Toma ten years ago. But, he didn’t know that Ohno had kept an endless love towards Jun, Toma’s boyfriend back then. 

“It’s okay, Nino,” Ohno said, lifting the kid’s head on his chin. 

“He’s not the person I can trust, unlike you,” Nino said. 

“He will never hurt you, I’ll guarantee that.” 

Both of them didn’t say anything for the time being. The sounds that can only be heard were from the birds that chirped from the surrounding trees. 

“I need to sleep,” Nino murmured from his lap. 

“It’s daylight,” Ohno said. 

“Make me sleep,” he requested. 

Ohno hesitated, he had just discovered that he could control the mysterious power within him and Nino knew it. What he had done to Jun was the perfect example; but he was afraid that if he did it wrongly, he could kill this boy. 

Nino rose from his kneeling position and stood before Ohno, waiting for him to do something. Ohno put his hands on Nino’s shoulder and looked through his eyes, slowly but surely, Nino’s lids closed and he collapsed to the floor, right when Ohno felt a hard punch on his jaw, he stumbled and fell to the floor beside Nino.   
***   
Sho rushed to the floor where Ohno’s room located and stormed into the room. He found Ohno and Nino stood face to face and it seemed that Ohno was doing something to the boy, as he saw Nino collapsing to the ground, he couldn’t think any further before landing a hard punch on Ohno’s jaw, making him fall to the floor. 

Sho panted, he felt blood gathering in his head, his eyes focused on Ohno whose face was as plain as usual. He looked at Nino on the ground, sleeping peacefully. 

“Nino,” he touched the boy’s shoulder. 

“Don’t wake him up,” Ohno said, rising up from the floor. “He’s seeing a beautiful dream now.” 

Ohno’s hand reached Sho’s jaw and he lifted it so their gazes met. Sho’s muscles stiffened and he found it was hard to breathe. Ohno let go of his jaw and he fell to the floor, struggling to catch his breath, but the room had turned into vacuum, oxygen no longer existing. 

“You can choose,” Ohno said, squatting beside him. “Believe me or leave, I’ll never bother you again,” his right hand caressed Nino’s head softly, “I can see he’s so precious to you, more than what I anticipated. He’s precious to me as well, you don’t even know a half about him, yet, you already think you’re superior and judge him negatively. You have to learn more about Nino if you want him that much. But, I have to warn you, that he would go somewhere far from here once he graduates.” 

Sho’s lungs burnt, he would die like Toma in this room because of his own stupidity. Ohno was right that he didn’t know a thing about Nino and he never tried to find out. Perhaps what made him breathless wasn’t Ohno, but the doubt in his heart. 

“I’m sorry,” Sho said with so much effort. “I made a mistake.” 

Ohno moved his hand to Sho’s neck, running his fingers through his veins and he smiled. 

“We made mistakes,” he said and with that he released Sho. He caught his breath and coughed. He sat down and looked at Nino’s face. 

“Can’t I love him?” he asked Ohno. 

“That’s your choice,” Ohno answered.


	9. Chapter 9

“Don’t come any closer,” Toma said as he stepped back; panic written on his face. “I’ll tear this apart,” he said, showing him the sketch. 

Ohno’s hands trembled hard; he wanted that sketch back. That was Jun’s portrait and he had been working on it for a month. Toma couldn’t have it. 

“Give it back,” Ohno said, his voice echoed in that empty gymnasium. 

“How dare you make a sketch of Jun? You’re such a creepy creature!” Toma shouted as he began to tear the sketch into two. 

Ohno’s eyes glistened, full of tears in anger. He wanted to hurt Toma as bad as he could, he wanted to throw rocks to that face, and he wanted to make Toma feel what he felt. Then it happened, Toma’s eyes widened in shock, he shook his head continuously while staring at Ohno. He choked and became breathless; he stepped back and slipped to the swimming pool behind him. Toma could have swum for his life, but something had prevented him in doing so. He struggled under water and soon, he was not moving. 

Ohno panted as if he had just ran to this place. He collected what remained from his sketch and escaped the gymnasium as fast as he could. 

How much time do people need to find Toma’s body inside the pool? He didn’t want to think about it. Instead, he hid himself under the bedcover as he reached home, still trembling from head to toes. He felt something burning in his left eye, and when he touched it, it felt warm. Did he just kill someone? But how? He didn’t even lay a finger on Toma;that guy had slipped and fell into the swimming pool. 

The sketch in his hands was already torn apart; he sadly looked at it and united the pieces again, arranging them like a puzzle. But a great headache struck him all of a sudden and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes burnt and he knew there was something inside him – dwelling there without him knowing it.

***  
When Sho opened his eyes; he was in his own bedroom. His neck was stiff and hurting. He had a massive headache and it was difficult to lift his head from the pillow. He rolled aside and collected his balance; somebody was there with him, sleeping beside him. He wore pure white pajamas, his chest rose and fell along with his breath and his face was hidden by the bedcover. 

He must have been dreaming but nobody experienced headache in their dreams. He moved closer to the body and revealed the person under the blanket. Nino’s face was peaceful and calm; he looked even cuter when he slept like a baby which made Sho’s heart beat faster. He didn’t remember that he brought Nino along with him; Ohno must have done something related to it. 

He touched Nino’s cheek, making sure that he wasn’t just his hallucination. He traced the line of his face towards his chin, feeling the urge to kiss him, but he was scared that kissing those tempting lips would make Nino disappear.   
Summer would end soon and Nino would be leaving the museum. Ohno mentioned that the kid had agreed to take a scholarship for a youth exchange and it meant that nothing could guarantee them to meet again. Was it Ohno’s plan since the beginning? 

“Sho san,” Nino murmured while opening his eyes slowly. “Good morning.” 

“Morning,” Sho answered, smiling at the boy. 

“What a long sleep,” Nino rose from the pillow and yawned. “Are you alright?” 

“I’m okay,” Sho hid the bruise on his neck and got down from the bed, holding onto the side wall since his head nearly exploded. He still needed to meet a client today no matter how he wanted to stay in bed with Nino. He checked the clock on the wall and knew he was too late. He grimaced and tried to reach the bathroom with the last strength he got. 

“Ohno kun sent you a message,” Nino said while handing him the phone. The boy had followed him with his silent steps.   
Sho scrolled the screen and read what Ohno sent him. 

‘I’ll take care of everything, take some rest’

Sho slumped to the floor and closed his eyes; his head throbbing in pain. He saw Nino come closer and squatted in front of him while touching his forehead. 

“You’re burning,” he said. 

“I’m fine, Nino,” Sho averted his gaze away from Nino, remembering what happened yesterday. 

“He told me to take care of you,” Nino said, gesturing to his phone where Ohno’s message was showed. “You’d better go back to your bed,” the kid smiled. 

Sho’s heart jumped to his throat, not believing what he had just heard and saw. Nino had always acted ignorantly and cold towards him. It was the first time Sho saw a sincere smile on Nino’s lip, a kind of smile the kid always gave to Ohno. He let Nino help him stand up off the floor and lead him back to his bedroom. 

“I’ll call a doctor,” Nino murmured. 

“No,” Sho gripped the boy’s wrist. “I’m fine, I just need some aspirin and a deep sleep,” he closed his eyes and opened them again. 

“You need some breakfast,” Nino murmured. “I checked your fridge, but there’s nothing left but a can of expired sardines. I can go to the nearest convenient store and buy something for us,” he said to Sho and this time, Sho knew he couldn’t deny the offer. 

“Salmon onigiri sounds nice,” Sho said. 

“I’ll be right back,” Nino said, leaving the apartment. Sho heard him close the door behind him and he sank deeper to his pillow. 

Hundreds of questions ran inside his head: How did he get here? Why was Nino here in his bed? Why did Ohno suddenly become such a mellow man by telling Nino to take care of him? 

He tried to remember what happened yesterday. He kissed Nino in his office, he saw Ohno do something to Nino, he got himself choked and everything was black, and he couldn’t remember anything else. His run of thoughts made him even dizzier and he decided to put them aside. He would think of it later, in a more convenient condition. 

Nino came back with four pieces of onigiri and two cans of coffee. He put them on Sho’s side desk and told him to choose. 

They ate in silence, until the last bite of onigiri had gone and Sho couldn’t help himself from asking the younger. 

“Nino, can I talk about Ohno san?”

Nino raised one of his brows and nodded slightly. 

“What is he?” Sho asked. 

“You know him longer than I do,” Nino answered. 

“He got his power back,” Sho murmured. 

“He never lost it,” Nino sipped the coffee until the last drop and turned to face Sho, “I knew it since the first time I met him. I was cursed to have a kind of sixth sense,” Nino chuckled bitterly, “and kleptomania,” he added. 

Sho had no space to feel surprised about the news, half of him wanted to believe that Nino was just lying. 

“He told me that I don’t know a thing about you ,” Sho said in doubt. 

“Maybe he’s right,” Nino grinned, “about my job. Ohno san found me a job in a reflexology massage inside a love hotel, with my kleptomania disease, it’s hard for me to get a proper job.” 

Sho gulped, he couldn’t feel guiltier than he already did when he heard what Nino said. He played with the empty can on his hand and didn’t say anything more. Ohno knew that he would fall for Nino, Ohno knew that he was a weak guy with fake pride. He wanted to apologize to Nino, he wanted to pay for his mistakes, he wanted to make Nino happy, even if it meant he had to let the kid go. 

“What about Matsumoto? Do you know something about him?” Sho asked after a long silence. 

“That man,” Nino looked to the distance, beyond the opened window, “he’s a liar, but he found that he’s comfortable with the killer of his high school boyfriend.” 

“You know about that accident.”

Nino shrugged, “You’re not the one who read Ohno san’s note by coincidence, even though I did it with a little effort,” the boy continued. 

They didn’t talk further and Sho slowly drifted back to sleep and he felt Nino kiss him before he left, even though he didn’t know whether it was real or just his imagination.   
***  
“I want to quit,” Aiba said as he put an envelope on Sho’s desk. 

Sho looked at the envelope for minutes before moving his gaze to Aiba. As far as he knew, Aiba had been working at this museum the longest and he had a very good record. He always did his job properly and the guests loved him; Sho couldn’t find any clue why this guy wanted to quit the job. 

“This museum needs you,” Sho said. “There’s no way you can quit the job.” 

Aiba looked down, not saying anything in reply. Sho rose off his seat and walked towards the man, he put his hands on Aiba’s shoulders, “I personally want you to continue your job here,” he said. 

“Why?” 

“For your own good,” Sho said. “You love this job, don’t you?” 

Aiba smiled bitterly as if telling Sho that there was something else which made him want to quit the job. Maybe Sho was the main reason why Aiba wanted to quit; he did an unforgivable thing to Aiba that night and for whatever reason, it must have left a deep cut in Aiba’s heart. 

“I think I need to freshen up,” Aiba murmured. 

“Then take a break,” Sho leaned to the edge of his desk and folded his arms in front of his chest, looking straight at Aiba’s face. 

If Sho was in his right mind, he should have fallen for Aiba instead of Nino who was way younger than him and their chances to be together was so thin. But, changing what he felt wasn’t that easy. Maybe he should learn to forget Nino, maybe he should learn to love someone else. 

“I’ll take a break with you,” Sho said after minutes of silence. Aiba didn’t try to hide his surprise as he heard what Sho had said. “I think I have been working too hard and kind of forget to give myself some rest,” Sho continued while smiling. “Just tell me where you want to go, and I’ll arrange everything.” 

Aiba gulped and smiled weakly. 

“I’ll think about it,” he said. 

“So, we don’t need this any longer,” Sho took the envelope, tore it apart and threw it in the dustbin. 

“Thank you, Sakurai san,” Aiba bowed and excused himself from Sho’s office. The latter inhaled deep breaths a few times. Then, he looked at Ohno’s painting on the wall and somehow he could understand it. 

***  
The museum was as crowded as usual during summer, but it would end soon; fall would approach followed by winter. The corridor would turn colder and Jun had to work near the heater all the time. But it was still a few months later, he didn’t need to worry about it now. 

If summer ended, Nino would no longer work here. He wasn’t sure who would become lonelier if Nino was gone, him or Sakurai. His curiosity about the kid wasn’t totally answered, but he thought that it was okay to accept Nino as he was. Nino had given up Ohno for Jun (he was underage anyway) and his mysterious closeness with Sakurai still left unpleasant thoughts to Jun, but he didn’t want to pry; it was none of his business. 

He began to make two boxes of lunch. Nino gave him a puzzled look when Jun handed one of the boxes to him. Nino never said anything regarding his cooking, just a simple ‘thanks’, but Jun guessed that Nino didn’t get too much kindness from the people around him; that was why he couldn’t say anything like a simple compliment. Jun didn’t mind it, though. He loved to see Nino’s delighted face when he ate and he didn’t need to have lunch all alone when Aiba wasn’t around. 

Aiba – for whatever reason, rarely joined them at the back yard of the museum. It seemed that something happened to him which turned him so gloomy. Jun remembered the guy had told him that he was in love with Sakurai, but that was all. 

***  
Jun let Ohno grip his hand tighter as they crossed the street; he loved how Ohno protected him, loved how he always turned around to check on him, he loved how Ohno repaired his bangs which fell to the side of his face, he loved how Ohno would kiss him at the doorstep as they separated. 

Jun just knew that Ohno had soft ears and a beautiful nose and no matter how long he watched Ohno’s face, he would never get bored. Ohno’s blind left eye didn’t scare him anymore, oppositely, Jun felt it was a special part of Ohno’s body which made him even more attractive in Jun’s eyes. 

“I’m in love,” he admitted it to himself. 

He had never felt this way with anyone, not even to Toma. Perhaps he was being hypnotized in a magical way. The only thing which bothered him was the painting in Ohno’s room; it reminded him of something, but he couldn’t recall the details.

The dreams about Toma kept on bothering him. In the closed door in his dream where Toma disappeared mysteriously, he could now feel that there was somebody else there. However, every time Jun turned to see clearer, that unknown person disappeared. It repeated many times as if Toma wanted to say something to Jun. 

“Ohno kun,” Jun would search for Ohno every time he awakened in the middle of the night, making sure that Ohno was still beside him. If Ohno didn’t stay over, he would call the man, checking on him if he was alright. He had become such a paranoid, afraid that Ohno would be gone, like Toma. 

“Jun, I’m here.” 

Ohno would say, so gently, whispering to his ear and with that, he could go back to sleep. There were so many things that he wanted to know about Ohno but he couldn’t bring himself to ask them. The man – of course – would answer briefly if Jun asked something related to his painting, but it didn’t explain anything and Jun couldn’t erase the feeling that Ohno was hiding something from him. 

Jun’s weekends were no longer lonely; he would stay at Ohno’s house, accompanying him while he painted. Sometimes, he would make some cakes for both of them. Fox was also there, crouched on Ohno’s bed. Finally, he could be honest with his feelings; he was no longer pretending that he liked his life, his job, but now, he loved it for real.   
“Try it,” Jun brought the plate full of cake and fed Ohno, the latter was too busy to divert his attention from the artistic thing he created. 

“It tastes like fish,” Ohno commented. 

“My original recipe,” Jun smiled and feed Ohno with another bite. “Do you like it?” 

“I like everything you cooked for me,” Ohno finally put aside his equipment and let Jun feed him until there was no more left on the plate. 

“You’re so thin, you know,” Jun extended his hand to touch Ohno’s cheek and it was all of a sudden. He didn’t anticipate it from coming. He remembered a face, he touched it, the cheek was bleeding, he cleaned it with his handkerchief…  
*** 

The sport lesson was similar as a weekly torture for Ohno; he was never good at it and never would be. Being bullied made it even worse. Toma and his comrades could hurt him and pretend it was an accident. It happened so many times before, but today was particularly bad. 

The teacher didn’t pay attention to them when they warmed up. Ohno had already chosen the furthest spot from Toma, but it seemed that he was still too visible. When they ran around the soccer field to warm up their body, Toma chased him and pushed him forward on purpose. Ohno fell onto the ground and felt blood on his cheek as he landed on his face. He grimaced in pain and heard Toma laugh as he left him. 

Ohno limped forward to find the teacher and told him that he couldn’t continue. He was told to go to the school clinic, but he didn’t want to see the nurse who always saw him as if seeing a disgusting fly, so he brought his feet to the hidden attic and managed to clean his wound by himself. He took some cotton, a small amount of bandage and a bottle of alcohol from the first aid box before dragging his feet upstairs. 

To his surprise, someone was there, reading a novel silently. Ohno was about to leave when he heard a voice called him. 

“Hey, are you skipping a lesson?” 

Ohno didn’t answer, he turned his face to the boy. He was Jun, Toma’s boyfriend, who looked so cute in his autumn cardigan. He expected Jun to run, to insult him and said that he was a freaky. But, he didn’t do anything except sliding something from his pocket, a handkerchief. He wiped Ohno’s cheek and touched his skin gently. 

“You’re bleeding, are you okay?” he said while putting his book and helped Ohno to sit down, “let me clean your wound,” he took the alcohol bottle from Ohno’s hand and began to wipe the blood off his face. 

Jun didn’t know his name. He didn’t know that Toma was the one who did it to him. How could someone like Toma date a kind-hearted boy like Jun? 

“Does it hurt?” Jun asked him when he smeared the iodine on his wounded skin. 

Ohno shook his head in return. Maybe he crashed his head onto the ground which made him hallucinate. This boy was truly an angel; his big round eyes, his flawless skin, his nice hair and a sincere smile which could melt everybody’s heart. 

“There you go,” Jun said as he finished taking care of his wound. 

“Thank you,” Ohno murmured softly. Jun was more handsome from close distance, his smile was way wider than Ohno could imagine and his skin was very pale but beautiful. Ohno didn’t want that day to end, but the bell had rang and Jun must go. 

“I have to go, I can’t skip this class,” he said while collecting his stuff and disappeared from sight. 

Ohno never met Jun in that attic anymore…  
***   
How could he forget? Jun couldn’t sleep that night, his hands were still trembling. He ran from Ohno’s room as quickly as he could when the memories rushed into his head. It couldn’t be, he locked his door, chained it, afraid that Ohno would follow him. 

Ohno was the guy from school, a freaky student that nobody wanted to be friends with. Jun thought that a guy like him would never survive, he thought that Ohno would choose suicide than stay alive. But, Jun let himself fall for Ohno. 

He loved Ohno, only that he wasn’t ready to admit that Ohno was someone from his past. He had been struggling so hard to forget what happened ten years ago, yet the people from that school surrounded him. He remembered what Aiba had said, that Sakurai was a student of Kagayakashi High School, too, not mentioning that he moved not long after that, and Ohno too. 

‘“How do you know it’s his real name?”

Aiba’s voice echoed inside Jun’s ears. He grabbed his phone and dialed Aiba’s number, but he reached the mailbox. He tried Nino, but he wasn’t that lucky. His heart started to beat faster. He opened the museum website and went to the management section. The name ‘Enomoto Kei’ had gone. Jun unlocked his door and ran outside; his feet brought him to the bus stop, he wanted to be at the museum, more than ever. 

***   
“What can I do for you?” Nino asked Ohno. 

“Wound this cat and take him to this address,” Ohno handed him an address, the apartment near the museum. “Make sure he would find this cat.” 

“Anything else?” 

“No, that’s all for now,” Ohno said, lowering his hat and disappeared through the crowds. 

Nino took a look at the man’s picture. The name ‘Matsumoto Jun’ was written behind the picture. He took a small knife from his pocket and without hesitation, wounded the cat’s front leg. 

“Sorry, nothing personal,” he whispered to the cat while putting him down. 

He lowered his hat and watched until he saw a handsome man appear and take the cat.


	10. Chapter 10

Ohno looked at the painting he had just finished, he traced the canvas with his fingers; he stopped at the edge of the frame and kept his hand there. It was his first portrait after ten years; a real portrait, not just a sketch on a piece of paper. He closed his eyes for a while, imagining Jun’s warmth, Jun’s touch, Jun’s breath against his skin, but the man seemed too far away now. 

He glanced at the messy suitcase beside him; he had come back to the place where he spent most of his time alone – a shrine in the middle of the mountain. The shrine caretaker let him stay to create calligraphies and paintings which would be decorated there and sometimes, Ohno participated in a weekly meditation where he could find a peace of mind. 

Jun’s surprised expression still remained inside Ohno’s head; he knew that Jun would recall that memory – sooner or later. He had already prepared himself for the day when Jun finally recognized him as the bullied kid in school; a freak who scared everyone with his blind left eye. He didn’t try to knock on Jun’s door and talk to him as the man ran away, because he knew that Jun wouldn’t listen to him in his current condition. The best he could do was to stay away for a while, and let the man think and decide whether he should leave or stay. However, Ohno already knew the answer…

He washed his hands and covered the canvas with a cloth before leaving the room. The air outside was so fresh and a little bit cold, signaling that summer had ended. These past three months seemed longer than usual with so many things happened and Ohno needed some rest from the chaos he had created. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the breeze, forgetting the things he had in mind for a while. 

***   
The museum was quieter than usual; even the birds outside seemed to forget to chirp. Jun typed documents on his computer, making sure that he had input every new item properly. It had been two weeks since that strange day; he tried to pretend that nothing happened, that Ohno was just a part of his hallucination, that everything was just his imagination. 

He even didn’t realize that Nino was no longer here; maybe that was why this museum felt emptier and quieter than usual. He was about to switch on his music when the door fluttered open and the last person he expected appeared on the door frame. Sakurai Sho’s head poked inside and he entered without any word. 

Jun stopped typing and stood up to welcome the director, but Sakurai gestured for him to sit down. 

“I’m here to talk as a person, not as your boss,” he said. 

“I think we have nothing to talk about aside from work,” Jun murmured and tried to avoid Sakurai’s gaze as best as he could. 

“You’re wrong,” Sakurai stated, “We have a bunch to talk about.” 

Jun looked at Sakurai’s serious face. He guessed that he would never get along with this man who seemed so arrogant and selfish; maybe Sakurai thought about the same thing since he kept on frowning. 

“I’ll show you around,” Sakurai said coldly.

“I beg your pardon,” Jun raised one of his brows. 

“I bet you don’t even know half of this museum’s secrets,” Sakurai turned around and walked towards the door, “are you coming?” 

Jun didn’t say anything; he rose off of his chair and followed Sakurai’s steps reluctantly. The man took him towards a corridor which supposed to be an exit. Jun was about to ask when Sakurai stopped and pushed the wall, at least that was Jun thought at first since it wasn’t a wall, but a hidden door which led them to another room. 

“He told me to take you here,” Sho said. 

“He?” Jun confirmed. 

Sho didn’t answer directly; he switched on a lamp, the lights were enough to make Jun squint and it revealed what were inside that room. There were paintings, all of them were abstracts, but magically, Jun could understand it. He didn’t know why, but those paintings seemed to tell a story and it related to him. He approached one of the canvases and stared long enough to the unarranged shapes with many colors and patterns, he averted his gaze to Sakurai whose eyes were also locked on the painting. 

“Did Ohno san paint them all?” Jun asked, even though half of him already knew the answer. 

Sakurai nodded, almost in a slow motion. 

“He has been watching you for all this time,” Sakurai said, thrusting his hands into his pockets. “This museum is his property,” he paused to give Jun time to react, but the latter just gulped, not knowing how to show his surprise. “I don’t know how he got all of this property, but I think he didn’t commit any crime.” 

“Why are you telling me this?” Jun asked. 

“Because you deserve to know,” Sakurai shrugged, “once, he told me to leave him or stay, it’s up to me to choose what’s best for me and I chose to stay. The same thing applies to you. You can decide to leave this museum and forget everything, including your encounter with Ohno san.” 

Jun didn’t answer; he took a closer look at the painting. He couldn’t lie to himself; he still needed Ohno, no matter how creepy the man was. Even though he hated the fact that Ohno was a person from his past, a person who knew Toma as well. His nightmares were gone since he recognized Ohno; that was weird, but Jun didn’t complain, he had enough seeing Toma disappearing to the mysterious door and he was tired of waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweat running down his body. 

“I don’t want to leave,” Jun answered, facing Sakurai whose facial expression was hard to guess. “Same with you,” Jun continued. 

For the first time since they met, Sakurai flashed a smile to him, it was just a weak and half-hearted smile, but Jun found it calming him down, like an approval of the proposal. 

“Enjoy your sightseeing then,” Sakurai said, turning his body towards the exit. 

"Sakurai san,” Jun called the boss before he closed the door behind him, “where is he?” 

“He’s been waiting for you,” Sakurai said. 

It didn’t explain anything and Jun didn’t want to pry any further, so he thanked the director and continued to observe the other paintings. 

He couldn’t analyze his own feeling right now and he didn’t feel like trying to do it; all he wanted was to let it be. The fact about Ohno, surprisingly didn’t bother him that much, he was kind of expecting it, that man was a mystery to him and he thought that maybe it was better to leave it just like that. 

He spent another one hour in that hidden chamber and returned to his office with lighter feeling. He went home straight as the museum closed and found his apartment unlocked. There was only one person in this world who had his spare key; Jun found him sitting on the chair in his dining room, smiling slightly at Jun who froze, not knowing what to say.   
***   
“Nino, you walk too fast,” Sho chased the younger who stopped and grumbled, telling him that he was an old man.   
“I’ll miss my flight,” Nino glanced at his watch. 

“We still have around two hours,” Sho complained, “don’t you want to give me a hug before leaving, it’s a whole year before I can see you again.” 

“No,” Nino said precisely. “Ohno san told me that you can travel to England for the museum’s sake anytime you want, so I guess you’ll fly there two months from now,” the kid gave him a mocking smile, “or maybe two weeks from now.”   
Sho sighed, but he guessed that Nino was right. He chased the boy and walked at the same pace with him. “Don’t steal anything there, promise me.” 

“I can’t do that, it’s a syndrome after all,” Nino shrugged. 

“Nino, I mean it. The rehabilitation you had been attending would be useless if you steal again.” 

“Yes, Mom,” Nino said sarcastically. 

“Can I call you on skype?” Sho said as they entered the check-in area. He wasn’t sure Nino heard him since the boy didn’t even turn towards him. Nino finally answered his question when they were about to separate at the departure gate. 

“The time difference is so wide between Japan and England,” he said, looking into Sho’s eyes for the first time since they came here. 

“I’ll note it,” Sho said.

“You’re too busy to make a phone call, let alone skype me,” Nino said while sliding out his passport and ticket. Sho watched him, he was worried to death for this boy who couldn’t take care of himself properly and seemed fragile and reluctant and he even couldn’t speak English that well to save his ass in a foreign country. 

“Nino.”

He wanted to hug him, but he knew Nino wouldn’t like it, “Take care,” he said. 

“You worry too much,” the younger shrugged and unexpectedly gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “See you, Sho san,” he said while waving good bye at Sho who felt empty all of a sudden as he waved farewell at the boy. He wanted to chase the boy and go with him, he wanted to share his scarf with him in the winter, he wanted to buy a cup of coffee for him and enjoy it under the Christmas mistletoe and there were still a bunch of things he wanted to do with Nino. Maybe if he was lucky, he and Nino would be able to do them all; on a better circumstance where Nino was no longer underage, where Sho no longer felt guilty every time he wanted to touch the younger boy. 

He walked back home with a miserable feeling, but he changed his direction half- way, he didn’t want to be alone tonight. He went to a cinema and watched a movie he didn’t particularly want to see, he couldn’t concentrate at all; his mind flew to Nino. He wouldn’t see the other tomorrow and the day after that, it made him lonelier than he already was.   
Sho walked the city, despite the late hours and let the cold wind tickle his skin. He slid a cigarette from its box and put it between his lips, looking up at the night sky. The moon shone brightly, but it looked like a taciturn person who flashed a broken smile. Sho inhaled the cold air through his nose and hummed an old song along the way. 

***   
“I’m sorry for entering your house without permission,” Ohno said. He was in his usual baseball cap with a black T-shirt and jeans, his thick-framed eyeglasses were gone, his eyes were as normal as Jun’s. 

Jun gasped, not knowing how to answer. Was this man the real Ohno he knew? Was he just a mirage from his imagination? 

He entered the dining room with some hesitation and stood right in front of Ohno whose eyes locked at him with a shady look. Somehow, it convinced him that this man was the real Ohno Satoshi. 

“Ohno san…” he whispered. 

“I’m glad that you didn’t move out from this place,” Ohno smiled and extended his hand to hug Jun. The latter couldn’t push the man away, he was really Ohno – flesh and blood and hugged Jun gently as he used to do a few months ago, when Jun still didn’t know that he was a person from his past. 

“Can I come back to you?” Ohno whispered in his ear, sending strange warmth to Jun’s body. 

“Is this a spell, magic, or another lie?” Jun confirmed.

“None of them,” Ohno’s hand brushed his hair softly. “This time, I came to you as an ordinary man. There’s no more deceiving, no more games.”

“How can you prove it?” Jun pulled away and looked through Ohno’s eyes. He felt that he didn’t know anything about this man, but he couldn’t leave, just like what he told Sakurai. 

“I’m here,” Ohno said briefly. 

Jun knew that he lost against this man; all of his arguments and protests had gone away. It was weird when you fall in love with somebody, you barely knew yourself and you tend to do something irrational. He let Ohno hug him again and this time was a little bit tighter. 

“What happened to your left eye?” Jun finally found his guts to ask. 

“I had an operation,” Ohno said, giving Jun a reassuring expression. 

Ohno looked different in his normal appearance as if a part of him had been removed, Jun didn’t know which part, but it seemed that he was less frightening. He lifted his right hand to touch Ohno’s left cheek and slowly touched the lid, he wanted to ask why Ohno did an operation after all this time. Why now? However, the words won’t form in his mouth, maybe he would ask it to Ohno in a more delightful moment. 

***   
There were too many questions left, but Jun knew he couldn’t get the answers. Many days had passed since Ohno reappeared again in his life. He faced his days like always; he woke up in the morning, brushed his teeth, had some breakfast, fed Fox and went for work. The museum was crowded, Aiba and Tabe were busy guiding the visitors and he was busy keeping the data updated. 

The fact that Ohno owned the museum didn’t mean that Jun had some privilege; besides, Sakurai was still the director and was still very strict with the rules. He was a little bit gloomy since Nino went abroad, but it seemed that he decided to be more sociable with his employees; Jun often found him in the back yard, enjoying lunch together with Aiba and Tabe.   
Jun missed Nino’s presence as well. That kid had sent him a postcard with a tulip printed on it and a short message which told him that he had gone to Netherlands for a study trip with the whole class. 

“I stole somebody’s charger, but I think he didn’t realize it since he had a spare”

Typical Nino, Jun thought. 

He placed the post card on the small board beside his working desk and looked at it for a couple of seconds before returning to his work. 

The winter came with a cold wind; Jun who was weak of cold got eternal flu, no matter how much medicine he had consumed. Ohno made him a special breakfast every morning which he called as winter breakfast; it warmed Jun’s body, but wasn’t enough to take away the flu. 

However, this week, Ohno was in Akita for his scenery hunting. He was painting another abstract and needed a snowy area for that. The air was getting colder each day and the daylight turned dark too soon. The museum was closed two days before Christmas Eve; Jun had just finished his shopping and was waiting for Ohno in the station when he saw somebody among the crowd.

He never believed in ghosts for all his life; the idea about ghosts was too absurd and out of sense, but now he was seeing one. 

Once or twice, he had imagined how Toma would look like if he grew up, what kind of clothes he would be wearing, what kind of hairstyle he would have. The silhouette fit his imagination properly; Toma wore a long khaki coat with a nice hat covered his head; he was looking right at Jun and flashed a weak smile. Jun approached the appearance, but when he stepped closer, Toma’s body had gone blur. The man bid goodbye and disappeared completely from his sight. 

“Jun!” 

He turned around and saw Ohno.

“You don’t need to wait for me, it’s freaking cold here,” Ohno said, adjusting his heavy backpack on his shoulders and offered to bring the bags that Jun was carrying. 

“It’s okay,” Jun shook his head, “your rucksack looked heavy,” he observed Ohno’s face for seconds, “it seemed that you’re too busy to shave,” he grinned. 

“It’s too cold,” Ohno said, leading the way to the subway train platform. Jun looked back to the spot where Toma disappeared, maybe Toma wanted to convey a message that he was alright out there. Maybe Jun had to stop thinking about him. 

“Satoshi, what do you want to eat for Christmas Eve?” he asked Ohno when they almost reached their last stop. 

***   
Nino tightened his scarf as he stepped outside of the supermarket. He was proud of himself that he didn’t steal anything during his shopping time, even though the urge to do that ruled his nerves. He remembered Ohno’s message not to get into trouble since Ohno wasn’t here to back up his ass. Sho had sent him a bunch of emails, but he hadn’t written back since he didn’t know what to write. Sho was too sweet, but also a bug sometimes when he got worried sick of Nino. He missed Sho, for sure, but he didn’t know what kind of relationship they had right now. Sho was way older than him and Nino wasn’t sure he would be waiting until he graduated from university and long after that. 

The Christmas Eve was not Nino’s favorite time since he always ended up alone. He walked faster to his flat and wanted to enjoy hot milk in order to warm his body, but he stopped half-way in the corridor when he saw Sho was there, standing in front of his door. 

“Sho san? What are you doing here?” 

“That’s not the welcoming sentence to the person who crossed half of the globe to meet you,” Sho smiled at him and gave him a brief hug. 

“And that’s not the kind of hug you give to the kid you missed the most,” Nino commented sarcastically. 

“I’ll remember that,” Sho slid something from his pocket and pushed to Nino’s hand. “From Matsumoto,” he said.   
Nino looked at the worn-out watch in his left hand; he had no idea why Jun gave it to him. He recalled what happened that night he stole this watch from the man. 

“Is he alright? He didn’t die right?” Nino raised his brow. 

Sho chuckled slightly, “It seems so, now, would you let us in?” 

Nino unlocked his door and led Sho in, it was his first time to be in the same room with Sho, just the two of them. Somehow, it made him all nervous. 

“Where is your luggage?” Nino asked. 

“In my hotel,” Sho put off his coat and hanged it on the porch, “do you expect me to stay here?” 

“I didn’t say that,” Nino murmured. “I thought that you are the one to expect me to let you stay here,” he said with some hesitation. 

Sho laughed, “You’re still the same old kid I knew.” 

“It’s only been three months; you said it as if I’m gone for three years.” 

“It feels like three years,” Sho admitted. Nino turned to the man, he had already known that Sho liked him, but it was still awkward when it was said out loud. He approached the man and hugged him, “Thanks for coming,” he whispered.   
Sho inhaled a deep breath and brushed his hair, “You’re welcome,” he said. 

 

END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I missed chapter 8 when I re-posted it a few weeks ago (sorry for that). The story must have been unrelated from chapter 7 to chapter 9.   
> I have posted chapter 8 as well as the last chapter 10.


End file.
